Congtulations, Ted Cruz

This past week was full of headlines from the Republican National Convention. Appearances by Stephen Colbert, Melania Trump and of course, Donald Trump, gave us a lot of things to argue about with our friends and family. Including, but not limited to, “Did Melania really plagiarize Michelle Obama’s speech?”

There were also those who did not make an appearance. John Kasich, one of the candidates for the GOP and former governor of Ohio (where the RNC was held) did not show up. Neither did George H. W. Bush, George W. Bus, or Mitt Romney, who are top leaders within the Republican Party.

I still hope, deep down, that Trump will announce that he only ran to show America what kind of person our ignorance could elect into office, but as we get closer to November 4, my hope slowly grows smaller. Now, I can think of a handful of people who, at this point, will begin to think that my article smells of liberalism. These obvious conservatives need to realize that opposing opinions are what make this country great.

Despite Donald Trump being the official GOP nominee, Ted Cruz is the individual who won the week.

Congratulations, Ted, you finally won something! (I would also argue Ted Cruz won the Best GIF Award for the 2016 Presidential Election.)

Stepping onto the stage to give his speech, Ted knew what a tough position he was in. If he endorsed Donald Trump, then not only would he be giving into a bully, but Democrats would pounce on the opportunity to criticize Cruz on his endorsement, similar to the criticism Bernie Sander received after endorsing Hillary Clinton (See meme below). On the other hand if he did not endorse Trump, then he would be creating a rift within his party and therefore receive criticism from his fellow conservatives.

We all know now that Ted Cruz did not outright endorse Donald Trump. You can watch his entire speech below (around 18 minutes is when the important part starts).

This die-hard Republican, who I admit is a pretty terrible person (and possibly the zodiac killer) did something that Bernie Sanders could not. Democrats and Republican alike can argue the importance of candidates endorsing the nominees, in order to unite voters around a party nominee. Despite Bernie’s criticism of Hillary’s connections to Wall Street and big companies, the far left Democrat caved and endorsed Hillary in an attempt to bring his supporters around to the Clinton campaign.

What Ted Cruz did one-upped Bernie and the Democratic Party. Earlier in this article, I said that differing opinions are what makes this country great. And now, thanks to Ted Cruz, there are definitely differing opinions within the GOP.

“Stand, speak and vote your conscience, vote for candidates up and down the ticket who you trust to defend our freedom and to be faithful to the constitution.” – Ted Cruz

Is Ted Cruz actually suggesting we vote for candidates from both parties? The survival of the political parties is not what is important. Preserving our country’s values, along with improving the quality of life for all citizens should be the priority for all candidates. Crossing party lines and working together is what Ted Cruz asked us to do in November.

I never thought that I would hear a politician say this in such a critical stage of an election, let alone that it would come from a very conservative Republican.

So, thank you Ted Cruz, you actually said something that does not make me cringe, but instead made me smile.