I am appalled by reactionaries like Ted Cruz but he's nevertheless the first part-Hispanic candidate running for senator on the Republican ticket that I remember. I also think it's interesting to note that he's part-Cuban.
I am not surprised that so many right-wing Cuban emigres find their spiritual home in the Republican Party, particularly now. It's not just lingering Cuban exile spite at JFK and the Democratic Party concerning the Bay of Pigs fiasco or LBJ's realistic decision to abandon support for anti-Communist guerrillas in Cuba's Escambray mountains; it's also that so many right-wing Cuban emigres share a plantation-owner mindset with so many Republican former Dixiecrats. Both are from upper-class factions fiercely devoted to holding on to political power. Both fear and distrust the idea that the masses, not just the privileged "better classes," should not only have a voice in how they are governed, but also that the citizenry as a whole have interests that supercede those of the monied and political elites.
To this day many right-wing Cuban emigres scream their hatred of "communists." But when you come down to it, those "commies" don't just include the small, powerless, and generally disliked clutch of genuine Marxists and Marxist-Leninists, but also unionists, New Dealers, and just about anyone who genuinely believes that the state has an interest not just in promoting the ability of individuals to better their lot, but also to protect the weak and powerless against the power of wealthy individuals, private corporations, and the politicians and paid agents that shill for them.
Ted Cruz is part and parcel of that Tea-Publican Plantation Veranda mindset. That's reason enough to vote against him, particularly if he wins the GOP primary.
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