- Political Parties « Republican National Committee « Memo from DNC Rapid Response
From: DNC, DSCC,
DCCC, DGA & DLCC
To: Interested Parties
Date: Friday, October 25, 2013
RE: Ted Cruz’s Republican Party
Tonight, Ted Cruz is keynoting the Iowa GOP’s Reagan Dinner.
But as a headline in the conservative Washington Times put it this
week, “Forget Ronald Reagan, Republican candidates race to be the next
Ted Cruz.”
Make no mistake: Ted Cruz is leading the Republican Party.
Candidates want to be him. Incumbents are afraid of him. The Republican
Party base is energized by him.
Cruz comes to Iowa tonight after winning the Values Voters
Presidential straw poll and fresh off orchestrating a government
shutdown and bringing our nation to the brink of defaulting on our
obligations. Cruz’s shutdown cost our economy $24 billion, forced over
800,000 federal workers to be furloughed and risked a default that
would have tanked the global economy.
Ted Cruz and the Republican Party’s actions hurt the American
people, but instead of learning from their mistakes and changing their
ways, Republicans are doubling down and standing by Cruz.
That may please the Republican Party at events like tonight’s
Reagan Dinner in Des Moines, but his brand of conservatism is already a
liability for Republicans running for office in 2014 in Iowa.
Cruz’s Impact on Iowa Congressional
Races
The Iowa Senate race has been an unmitigated disaster for
Republicans consisting of a messy primary littered with 2nd and 3rd
tier candidates fighting to see who can be the most like Ted Cruz. Case
in point is the way that Joni Ernst, Sam Clovis & Matt Whitaker
recklessly and irresponsibly supported a continuation of the government
shutdown that damaged Iowa’s economy and wasted taxpayer dollars for
more than two weeks, hurting hard-working families across the state.
Ernst, Clovis & Whitaker’s recklessness and irresponsibility
forecasts major problems for them in 2014. New polling shows Bruce
Braley up 4 points over a generic Republican but the lead grows to 7
when voters learn he opposed the shutdown. It’s clear that, unlike
Bruce Braley, Iowa’s GOP senate hopefuls would rather stand with Ted
Cruz and his reckless and irresponsible political agenda than with Iowa
families.
In the House, two vulnerable Republicans have been particularly
egregious supporters of the Cruz strategy and shutdown itself: Tom
Latham (IA-03) and Steve King (IA-04).
Congressman Latham is taking on water for his lack of leadership
during the GOP Shutdown. A recent Des Moines Register editorial (a
paper that endorsed Mitt Romney in 2012) chastised Latham for his lack
of leadership saying, “Had Latham stepped up…the shutdown and debt
ceiling cliffhanger might have been averted.”
Congressman Steve King has been one of the cheerleaders for Cruz’s
brand of reckless conservatism that resulted in shutdown and King
wanted to ‘keep this thing going’ as the government reopened. It’s no
surprise that a poll conducted during the shutdown found that King is
vulnerable in his 2014 reelection.
Cruz’s Impact on the 2014 Iowa
Governor’s Race and State
Legislative Races
Governor Branstad has shown time and time again that he would
rather side with Tea Party extremists over Iowa's middle class
families, veterans, and students.
As thousands of Iowans felt the effects of the Ted Cruz-led
government shutdown, Governor Branstad downplayed its impact and
refused to criticize it. Hundreds of Iowans have already asked Gov.
Branstad to boycott Cruz’s Des Moines appearance in the wake of his
government shutdown that left important agriculture loans unprocessed
and put early childhood education programs at risk. And still, the
headlines this week read, “Branstad ready to welcome Cruz to Iowa.”
Much like Senator Cruz, Republicans in the Iowa statehouse would
rather attack the health and livelihood of Iowans than support job
creating legislation. If Republicans in the Iowa legislature continue
to pursue Cruz-like policies it will help ensure that Democrats keep
control of the Senate and take back the Iowa House next year.
Up and down the ticket, the reckless and irresponsible political tactics of Ted Cruz are being admired and adopted by Iowa Republicans. How much further will they go to side with Ted Cruz over those whom they were elected to serve?