“Marco and I would both make a much better candidate and a much better president than would Donald,” Ted Cruz told CNN after the debate last Thursday. “Marco is not my enemy. Marco and I are friends.” If Cruz really believes this, he and his friend ought to announce before March is over that they will run as a team on one single ticket to secure their futures, their party and the current conservative project.
The communications gods that smiled on the Roosevelts, Reagan and Kennedy have smiled this year upon Rubio, so he is best off as the face of the party, but it could be made clear that this is a partnership. The model would be the Clinton-Gore ticket, which instead of looking for contrast, paired similar people. And the goal would be saving the world.
Remember the all-boomer, all-hunk, and all-beefcake ticket of 1992? The one where the two 40-somethings, biceps protruding from under their t-shirts, made a bus tour of the heartland, along with their pretty, young, blonde, bouncy wives? Along with Kennedy/Johnson, (which was a strained pairing), the Clinton/Gore ticket was one of the few that did make a difference, a force multiplier, that greatly enhanced the appeal of all parties, and branded the party, which aimed to succeed two of our more elderly presidents, as something that was young, fresh and new.
Certainly, a ticket of two young Hispanics, each a child of immigrants, would close the door on the image of the old, white, dour, xenophobic Republican Party, terrified of change and/or demographics. It would fight Hillary Clinton to more than a draw on her claim to make history as running to be the first female president. And it would outdo her completely on one critical metric: Clinton/Gore had two hunks and two blondes, as would Rubio/Cruz, but Rubio/Cruz would have six stunning children. Hillary, attempting to run as Grandmother Clinton, would find herself wholly outclassed.
Accepting the second spot might be seen as a comedown for Cruz, who was running for president before he won office, but he must know by now that his strategy of base mobilization is not broad enough to win out. There aren’t enough true conservatives, even in primaries, to give him majorities in most of the critical states. On the other hand, his purists, and his ties to them, are exactly what Rubio needs. With his Gang of Eight flier, he needs shoring up on his right, and Cruz could vouch for him, signaling now that he’s had a conversion, his heart has moved over, and he never will do it again.
As of now, Cruz and Rubio are struggling with the wings of the anti-Trump factions, trying to rise from the teens and the twenties, while Trump has 30 or more points locked up. Trying to pry votes lose from the stragglers would gain them little, but merging would give them a rock-solid edge that could not be beaten. They would unite the two wings of the conservative movement, which has taken a beating, proclaim the shift from an old to a new generation, cement the gains of the Cottons and Haleys and Sasses, (which Trump would demolish) and place the country itself in good hands.
Like Gore in 2000, it would leave Vice President Cruz young enough to launch his own run for president (and if his leader isn’t impeached, he might make it), or President Rubio could name him to the Court if he wants it. And he’ll have helped save the world, which isn’t the best part.
Think how mad this will make “Morning Joe.”
Noemie Emery, a Washington Examiner columnist, is a contributing editor to The Weekly Standard and author of “Great Expectations: The Troubled Lives of Political Families.”
