The special hell of a Ted Cruz rally: What it’s like to spend an evening with the GOP’s oiliest

[cali]

operator.

There is a boisterous Oath Keeper leaking alcohol from every pore sitting three seats away from me in a Nashua, New Hampshire, middle school auditorium hosting a Ted Cruz town hall. I’m wondering if it’s too late to change seats.

The guy is wearing a camouflage jacket that doesn’t quite hide the bulging middle-age belly straining at the faded Patriots T-shirt underneath. He’s carrying a sign that reads “Like a Cruz missile, Ted will destroy ISIS” on one side and “Cruzin West” on the other, a plea for the Texas senator to pick former Florida congressman Allen West as his vice-presidential candidate. He’s loudly telling everyone within earshot that we need to start a Cruz/West chant at some point and is met with approving responses from some of the people around me.

I decide not to move. If the Oath Keeper or anyone else spies my reporter’s notebook and asks what outlet I’m with, I’ll say World Net Daily and hope no one pulls out an iPhone to check.

It’s all part of the carnival atmosphere of a Ted Cruz event being held at Elm Street Middle School, an imposing Gothic building that, as I drove up in the dark amidst a driving rain, made me think of an insane asylum in a movie, a comparison that felt more than appropriate once I was inside. Old men in baseball caps bearing the names of military units, moms holding babies in one hand and Ted Cruz signs in the other. Three people by the stage waving flags (from left to right: American, Israeli, Gadsden). Two flat-screen TVs on either side of the stage are showing a campaign film of more cheering crowds, backed by patriotic music and conservative activist Brent Bozell talking about all the reasons he loves Ted Cruz.

This is the New Hampshire I came to find. This is the polished and professional political rally of the true believers, ecstatic in their fervor and their belief in the rightness of their cause. It’s exhilarating and terrifying. As the late great Hunter S. Thompson might have said, this is the belly of the beast.

Cruz is often described as “oily,” but that word doesn’t really do him justice. In fact, he’s so oleaginous he reminds one of the puddles covering the stained cement floor of a Jiffy Lube. It’s not just a physical characteristic – though there is that; the man has a sheen about him – but also one of affect. When he strides out to a rapturous greeting from the crowd and walks along the edge of the stage slapping hands with people in the front row, it feels so studied that I can picture college-age Ted Cruz practicing this move in his Princeton dorm room.

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http://www.salon.com/2016/02/06/the_special_hell_of_a_ted_cruz_rally_what_its_like_to_spend_an_evening_with_the_gops_oiliest_operator/

[Live and Learn]

1. I feel nauseous every time I hear him speak. K&R nt

[trusty elf]

2. LubricaTED

[img][/img]

[Feeling the Bern]

7. IniberaTED. . .with hubris and bullshit!

DefeaTED at the polls in November.

RelegaTED to the dustbin of history.

[oberliner]

3. Can't we just focus on the issues?

This kind of article is pointless. All it does is play into negative stereotypes and personal attacks.

Ted Cruz is on the wrong side of every single issue we care about. That's what matters, not that he has a sheen or that patriotic music is played at his rallies.

I know it's a long campaign season and Salon needs to generate hits and content, but there has to be a better way.

If people (even religious and/or conservative ones) understand the policy implications of a Ted Cruz presidency then many of them might not support him. That's the light that journalists should be shining.

The problem with articles like this is that they feed into the notion that the left-wing media mocks people who are not like them.

[cali]

5. No. Because Presidential elections, in particular, are as much about

our culture as anything else.

[oberliner]

9. I wish they weren't

I think it is really unfortunate how much personality seems to trump policy (no pun intended).

[cali]

11. Culture and policy are inextricably bound

[oberliner]

12. Right - but I think people ought to vote based on policy not appearances

It seems like superficial considerations often take precedence.

How a candidate looks and sounds should not matter anywhere near as much as what they say or, more importantly, what they intend to do.

[cali]

14. Culture is not synonymous with appearance but

this journalist did rip a page from Thompson's 'Gonzo Journalism'.

[Generic Other]

16. Yet when everyone has a gut-level emotional response to his looks

we have to ask ourselves why so many have such a strong intuitive feeling about the guy. This seems to go beyond the superficial. Scientists and behaviorists might be need to study our reactions to offer an explanation. Is it that he squints like a reptile? Smirks like he feels he's smarter than everyone else? Primps and preens like an arrogant peacock? Body language is clearly giving people negative vibes about his character, and it is instantly reinforced by what he says when he opens his mouth.

[dixiegrrrrl]

17. How a candidate looks and sounds ...

Guess you were not around for Nixon.

He SAID all the right things, just as candidates do.

But HOW he said them, what hie LOOKED like with an insincere face, told the truth about him...his stiff wooden manner, his set scowl that would change to a smile if the cameras were running.

He said, and it is captured on the tapes....he did not LIKE people. He wished he could just be President without having to deal with people.

Then you watch Obama..his relaxed ease around crowds, and the fact that babies just mellow out around him.

Nope....looks and behavior matter.

[OldHippieChick]

18. I agree and sympathize,

but we are talking Repukes here. All they have done is focus on personality, looks and stereotypes. Yes, it's sad when we sink to their level, but they really aren't giving us many issues to discuss. They know few words. "It's Obama's fault" "Benghazi" and "Email" Beyond that, they have nothing. Cruz thinks he's the anointed one and it's difficult not to make fun of that position.

[livetohike]

4. Creepy isn't a strong enough word, but this early on a Saturday I

will be unable to think of a better one until I've had more coffee. He's repulsive.

[tecelote]

6. Repulsive works.

[Xipe Totec]

8. I wish Gordolfo Gelatino were alive, to play Ted Cruz on SNL

[agent46]

10. Ted Cruz

...eats his own boogers.

[Botany]

13. Ted Cruz peddles reptile lubricant.

I really don't think he believes his "God Talk" himself.

BTW Ted really does looks like Mr. Haney from Green Acres




"Cruz is often described as “oily,” but that word doesn’t really do him justice. In fact, he’s so oleaginous he reminds one of the puddles covering the stained cement floor of a Jiffy Lube."

[Octafish]

15. Jiffy Lube oil puddle deserves more respect.

That's low, calling it "Ted Cruz."