Ted Cruz bucks party leaders in bid to boost presidential campaign

Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, is calling out his party’s leaders over their recent support for the president’s trade bill and using his vocal opposition to stand out in the crowded GOP presidential race.

On Tuesday, Cruz cast a no vote on the Senate Trade Promotion Authority (TPA) bill, even though Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., urged “all colleagues” to vote for it. Cruz, who originally supported TPA, said the final bill was corrupt with “backroom deals” involving McConnell, House Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio, and Senate Democrats. Cruz said on Wednesday he has always supported free trade, but changed his tune because TPA now includes plans to reauthorize the export-import bank.

“Whatever is happening, corrupt backroom deals dominate the end product,” Cruz said.

Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., another GOP presidential candidate, also voted against the TPA bill. But unlike Cruz, Paul’s vote did not change from the previous vote in May. On Wednesday, the bill passed with a 60-38 vote.

But Geoffrey Skelley, political analysis at the University of Virginia Center for Politics, is not sure going against McConnell and the Republicans will help Cruz in the polls.

“Cruz is already disliked by most establishment Republicans,” he said. “It’s more of a spaghetti strategy—he’s throwing everything up on the wall and seeing what sticks.”

Many of the GOP White House hopefuls have similar supporters: grassroots conservatives and evangelical Christians. Cruz calling out congressional Republicans as part of a “Washington Cartel” is a way for him to “push ahead of some of these guys with shared constituency groups,” Skelley said.

With the 2016 campaign heating up, GOP presidential candidates are clamoring to connect with voters in a unique way. Cruz said it’s easy for candidates to point to times they fought against Democrats, but it’s hard to take on your own party.

“If you’ve never taken on the Washington Cartel, you’re not magically going to start in a new office,” he said. “We win by painting in bold colors and not pale pastels.”