Why Ted Cruz, of all people, was so quick to defend Donald Trump's debate performance - Washington Post

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Sen. Ted Cruz (Tex.) speaks at the Republican National Convention in July. (Carolyn Kaster/Associated Press)

Virtually no high-profile Republican had effusive praise for Donald Trump's debate performance — with one significant exception: the guy who, until a few days ago, had been Trump's chief GOP rival.

"Tonight, Donald Trump had his strongest debate performance of the election cycle. He drew strong contrasts with Hillary on taxes, regulations, law and order, and the disastrous Iran deal," Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Tex.) wrote in a lengthy Facebook post Monday night. On Friday, Cruz surprised the political world and endorsed Trump after giving every indication that he had no intention of doing so. Now, he's his biggest defender after the first debate:

House Speaker Paul D. Ryan (R-Wis.) released a statement praising Trump's "energy." But for the most part, congressional Republicans were relatively muted on how their nominee performed during the debate (and in a sharp contrast, Democrats were downright ebullient).

[It looks like Congress thinks Hillary Clinton won the first debate]

So why is Cruz, of all people, one of the few Republicans to praise Trump's debate performance, for which our own Fix's Chris Cillizza said he was "simply not prepared enough"? Here are some strong possibilities:

He's going all in on Trump

Cruz doesn't do much halfheartedly. Just 10 months after he came to the Senate in 2013, he launched a talk-a-thon on the chamber floor that helped lead to a government shutdown — and scowls from his GOP Senate colleagues.

[5 times Ted Cruz went to war with the Republican establishment]

At the Republican National Convention in July, he withstood boos for giving a 1,000-word plus speech and mentioning Trump only once: to congratulate — but not endorse — him. We called it the speech that threatened to tear the GOP convention apart.

Here are Sen. Ted Cruz's (R-Tex.) full remarks at the 2016 Republican National Convention, during which he called for a "return to freedom" and urged voters to "vote their conscience" in November. (The Washington Post)

The point is, Cruz isn't afraid to go against the grain, and when he makes a decision, he doesn't look back. So now that Cruz has suddenly, and somewhat riskily, endorsed Trump, perhaps he sees it as the next logical step to defend Trump every step of the way — even if that's a step too far for most Senate Republicans.

He has his own election to worry about

Sen. Ted Cruz gives a thumbs-up after addressing the Republican National Convention in Cleveland on July 20. (Mike Segar/Reuters)

All indications are that Cruz wants to run for president in 2020 or 2024. But first, he probably must win reelection to the Senate, because it's infinitely easier to advance in politics if you're already in politics.

That's not necessarily a sure thing. Cruz will run for his first reelection to Senate in 2018 — and he may face a legitimate primary challenger. Rep. Michael McCaul (R-Tex.) is a longtime powerful and wealthy lawmaker. Establishment Republicans, many of whom despise Cruz for his scorched-earth tactics in the Senate, reportedly urged McCaul to consider a primary challenge after the convention in July. Cruz's Texas colleague in the Senate, the powerful Sen. John Cornyn (R), recently refused to endorse Cruz for renomination.

McCaul hasn't ruled out challenging Cruz, although he says he's not focused on that right now.

Over the past week or so, he has stepped up his criticism of Cruz for not endorsing Trump at the Republican convention this July.

"I think what he did at the convention turned off a lot of people," McCaul told host Laura Ingraham on Sept. 20, a few days before Cruz endorsed Trump. "I mean, he pledged to support [Trump]. He broke his word."

Taken within that frame, Cruz's praise of Trump could be an attempt to assuage GOP concerns that he really is on board with Team Trump — and avoid a potentially well-funded primary challenger in two years.

The Facebook post wasn't about Trump. It was about Hillary Clinton.

Hillary Clinton appears at her first debate against Donald Trump. (Brian Snyder/Reuters)

In the 290 words of Cruz's Facebook post, about 30 words talked about Trump. The rest was devoted to explaining why Cruz thinks Clinton would be a bad president.

That's a well-worn tactic taken by Senate Republicans who will be on the ballot in November: Talk about your support for Trump in the context of Clinton, whom polls show a majority of voters also dislike.

[Whom do voters dislike more, Clinton or Trump? Some senators are betting their seats on the answer]

Cruz isn't on the ballot this November. He could be going out of his way to bash Clinton with an eye on the next presidential election: If Trump loses, it's a good bet Cruz will run for president in 2020 — against none other than Clinton.

And Cruz can try to use moments like this, way back in September of 2016, as when he started building the foundation to take her down.

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