Political party conventions often have very little to do with actually choosing a nominee; instead, the party uses the four days of free media coverage to promote their candidate with such egregious propaganda that, for a moment, you forget America has a democratic government and not some authoritarian regime that Vladimir Putin himself would applaud.

However, at the Republican National Convention in Cleveland this summer, Sen. Ted Cruz defied the party and the Republican nominee, Donald Trump, when he said, “Vote your conscience.” While this comment may appear innocuous at first, in Washington D.C. this would be the equivalent of giving the middle finger to the conservative establishment.

But, just a few months later, Cruz officially endorsed Donald Trump via Facebook last Friday, a day that will long be remembered as the moment Cruz sold his soul for a reelection bid.

So what, right? Chris Christie did it; Marco Rubio did it; Paul Ryan did it.

While many moderate Republicans have succumbed to peer pressure and hopped on the Trump train, Cruz has maintained a vitriolic relationship with Trump throughout the campaign cycle. Trump has repeatedly insulted Cruz, calling him “Lyin’ Ted” among other cruder monikers. He insinuated that Cruz’s father was involved in the Kennedy assassination and tweeted an unflattering photo of Heidi Cruz next to a photo of own wife, Melania Trump, with the caption “No need to spill the beans, the images are worth a thousand words.”  

The insults did not just flow one way. Cruz called Trump a “snivelling coward,” a “serial philanderer,” “utterly amoral,” and “a narcissist at a level I don’t think this country’s ever seen.”

It appears irrational to your average citizen that Cruz, who utterly despises Trump, could ever endorse a man that has insulted his wife and father. But … this is politics, and Cruz will face reelection in 2018.

Cruz may have a difficult primary in a few years as Texas Rep. Michael McCaul, the chairman of the House Homeland Security Committee, could challenge and possibly unseat the junior senator. Remembering his disloyalty, the Republican party might turn their back on Cruz, who recognizes that without party support he has no chance. Just ask Bernie Sanders how hard it is to fight back against a major party establishment with billions of dollars.

While I generally have very few kind words to say about Cruz, I admired his principled stand against the party. He put the interests of the American people over the interests of RNC Chairman Reince Priebus and Donald Trump.

Now, I no longer recognize this meek man who just needs a bit of arm-twisting to swear his loyalty to his archnemesis. Where did the man, who filibustered for 21 hours to shut down the government if Obamacare wasn’t defunded, go?  

A man who gives up his principles for political expediency has no right to serve in the U.S. Senate, an institution so revered that in a 2013 Public Policy poll Americans preferred Congress just slightly more than Gonorrhea.

Just kidding (but not about the poll). Congress has the reputation of a group of old white men (with the few token minorities thrown in for the pictures) that will vote however you like as long as you provide them with a fat sum.  

While I dislike Cruz’s endorsement of Trump, Cruz just proved that he’s like every other congressman. Please don’t act like this is some grand surprise; he’s just doing what members of Congress have done since the founding of this nation.  

– Mary Orsak – Staff Writer –