I recall being even more impressed with him when I had on C-SPAN 2 on a Friday night a couple of years after his first election, where he stumped the Senate and called for a point of order on the constitutionality of an issue that the Senate was debating. I’m not exactly sure if that is the correct wording of what he questioned but it sent Harry Reid and Mitch McConnell into a bit of a tizzy. They had to huddle and try to figure out what was exactly the correct way to move forward with Cruz and his question.

On a Friday night. 

I loved it.

So now that we've established where I stand, you have some background on why I follow what Cruz is doing and why I'm so interested in how his state of Texas is chugging along in the grand scheme of things. The Lone Star State is a bulwark state for the rest of the nation in so many ways and it is a good idea to see where and how it is doing.

Cruz is running for the Senate seat for the third time, and I happened to catch this article right HERE about his slight change in tactics this time around.

On his popular podcast, he regularly rips into Democrats, particularly on immigration issues and Israel. His latest book was called “Unwoke,” which charges that the Democratic Party is “controlled by Cultural Marxists.”

Yet here in Cypress, over sub sandwiches and cookies in a community clubhouse northwest of Houston, Cruz is rolling out a softer, bipartisan side to try to appeal to independents and Democrats as he faces a competitive challenger this fall in the red-leaning state. His so-called Cul-de-Sac Tour, with 10 planned stops in suburban communities, aims to recast his image as a dealmaking lawmaker who wants to bring jobs to Texas. His campaign even shot ads featuring “Democrats for Cruz.”

“I try very much to have my focus be on the policies and substance rather than going into the gutter with personal or character attacks,” Cruz said in an interview after the event. 

How this plays with voters could be crucial to whether the polarizing lawmaker wins a third term, as Republicans try to take back the Senate, where Democrats currently have a 51-49 majority. Cruz, who leads his Democratic rival, Rep. Colin Allred, in opinion polls, is trying to keep his core conservative base while also bolstering it with suburban swing voters, playing up legislative accomplishments on state issues and a sweeping air-travel bill, among others.

While Cruz is ahead in the polls according to the article above, he is not taking anything for granted and is covering all his bases. The state of Texas and its "redness" have been a concern of mine for quite some time for one very simple reason: if Texas EVER goes blue a Republican running for president never steps foot into the White House again.

I covered this topic late last year when I wrote about Gov. Abbott endorsing former President Trump in the 2024 cycle.

About That Greg Abbott Endorsement of Donald Trump and Texas Going Purple...

Here is my main concern about Texas no longer being solidly red but sliding into the purple range.

The invasion at the southern border that the Biden administration has allowed since January 2021 is by no means a mistake. This coincides nicely with the Democrats' push to try to have people who are here illegally vote and also not require a valid license of the state that they reside in to get a ballot. As fast as the authorities in Texas are able to nab and grab people crossing illegally from Mexico, tens of thousands, possibly hundreds of thousands, are able to slip away from authorities, and where they go is not known. 

That, coupled with the arrival of people from liberal states like California, Oregon, and Washington moving to friendlier states economically in the south and not changing their voting habits from those blue states, is of grave concern for Texas.

If you don't believe me, here are just some of the numbers since 2012, and they continue to slide from super safe to a little less so.

2012 - Romney vs Obama: Romney won the Lone Star State with 57.13 percent, over Obama's 41.35 percent, a margin of 15.78 percent. 

2012 - Cruz vs Sadler: Cruz 56.5 percent to Sadler 40.6 percent. 

2016 - Trump vs Clinton  Trump 52.2 percent to Clinton 43.2 percent.

2018 - Cruz  vs O'Rourke  Cruz 50.9 percent to O'Rourke 48.3 percent.

The 2018 Cruz campaign still won even though Beto raised money from all over the country, which is a good sign — but it was still too close for comfort.

2020 - Trump vs Biden  Trump 52 percent to Biden 46 percent.

Trump's almost 10-point win in 2016 was whittled down to just a six-point win four years later.

Senator Cruz, instead of just pretending that Texas is still a solid red state, is expanding his effort to reach out to independents and Democrats who are still sane and realize that Joe Biden has done a horrible job over these past three and half years. This is a common-sense approach, and one that I hope is duplicated in states such as Pennsylvania and Michigan.

Even if Donald Trump retakes the White House in November of 2024, he will need majorities in both the House and the Senate and there's no room for error in either chamber. The current balancing act Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) is pulling off in the House is a distraction and a GOP majority in the Senate would work much better if they had a three- or four-seat margin there.

Every seat is up for grabs with the job that Biden has done (or should be up for grabs), and Ted Cruz recognizes this and hopefully others in similar situations do too.

If not, can you imagine the next four years of Joe?

I can't.