He grew up in Texas during a time when Democrats dominated state politics, so he lived through the time in the 1940s when opponents of FDR took over the state Democratic Party:
By the early 1940s the conservative Democrats of Texas, led by oil and business interests, were outraged at President Franklin Roosevelt's New Deal. They resented the proliferation of government bureaus and the growth of the labor movement as well as wartime restrictions, particularly the fixed prices of oil and gas. By the presidential election of 1944 they were also agitated by the United States Supreme Court's Smith v. Allwright decision, which struck down the Texas law barring Blacks from the Democratic primary (see WHITE PRIMARY). ... The anti-Roosevelt faction then established the Texas Regulars, hoping to divert enough Democratic votes to prevent Roosevelt from defeating Republican Thomas E. Dewey. Senator W. Lee O'Daniel, Congressman Martin Dies, and a number of oil and corporate kingpins spearheaded the movement. The Regulars opposed the New Deal and the labor unions and called for the restoration of states' rights and white supremacy.
In other words, this would plant the seeds for future Republicans like Fled.
A recent Houston Chronicle editorial following January 6 ranked Cruz with past Texas politicians of ill repute:
Now and then through the years we Texans have sent our share of buffoons, grifters, lightweights, crooks, ignoramuses and ego-obsessed asses to Washington as representatives of the people. W. Lee “Pass the Biscuits, Pappy” O’Daniel comes to mind. So does Martin Dies, Jr., chairman of the witch-hunting House Un-American Activities Committee. So does Louie Gohmert.
In the wake of last week’s Capitol insurrection, add to this ignominious list the state’s junior senator, Ted Cruz and the 16 Republican House members who voted in favor of discredited objections to certifying the presidential election results in one or more swing states.
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