Ted Cruz would make a fantastic president but he is also such a law wonk by nature.
I'm not convinced. I wouldn't mind a President who would do some of the things Cruz promises and espouse some of the values that Cruz purports to espouse. But let's take a deeper look.
Cruz claims he'll abolish the IRS. The line gets a lot of applause, and Cruz seems particularly happy with himself when he speaks it. But does
anyone really believe that Cruz will actually abolish the IRS? What's more, does he, as President, have the authority to abolish the IRS? The answer is no, which brings us to our next point:
Cruz claims to love the Constitution and asserts that it should be strictly interpreted. He talks about how he defended the Constitution, but he openly and proudly mocks it when he casually dismisses Supreme Court decisions for no reason other than they don't agree with his political views.
I have no doubt that Cruz is more conservative that any of the other candidates, and I am certain that Cruz's beliefs are deeply held. But I just don't think what he actually believes what he claims to believe.
I wonder what he would choose between 4 to 8 years as president versus 40+ behind the bench.
It's not like the two are mutually exclusively.... assume that he gets elected; he's 45 now, so let's say 46 when he is sworn. If all goes according to plan, he'll be 54 when he gets out. If he's nominated and confirmed, he could begin a life tenure starting at age 55. The average life expectancy for a 45-year old today would be 87... let's say 85 to keep the numbers round. That's 30 years of service on the Court.
It's an unlikely scenario, but it is possible.
