Viewpoint: Could Ted Cruz Have Gotten This Far Without His Wife Heidi?

Spectrum Website
#1

On November 4-5, 2015, about a year out from the 2016 presidential election, things looked good for Ben Carson. He overtook Donald Trump at the top of the stacked GOP primary field at 24.8% of the Republican vote and posted solid fundraising numbers. For the retired Seventh-day Adventist neurosurgeon, his presidential bid couldn’t have been going better.

Meanwhile, Texas senator Ted Cruz, whose wife Heidi Nelson Cruz is the other Republican with Adventist ties* hoping for a Pennsylvania Avenue mailing address in 2016, sat in fourth place among GOP hopefuls, polling at about 8.8%.

Today, the situation for the two candidates is nearly reversed. Ted Cruz has climbed steadily into second place behind Trump, and Ben Carson has fallen to 4th, polling at 8.8% according to a Real Clear Politics average, nearly his lowest numbers since August 17, 2015.

As Ted Cruz’s poll numbers have increased, so has the scrutiny that accompanies a rising presidential candidate.

Among the subjects of scrutiny, Cruz’s citizenship (Cruz was born in Canada to an American mother), and his failure to disclose loans from Goldman Sachs and Citibank to the Federal Election Commission during his successful 2012 Senate campaign.

Heidi Cruz, the daughter of Seventh-day Adventist missionaries and Harvard Business School graduate, is a managing director at Goldman Sachs, on leave during her husband’s presidential campaign.

Catherine Frazier, a spokesperson for the Cruz campaign, said that failing to report the Goldman Sachs loan, for as much as $500,000, was “inadvertent.” She also said that the campaign would file corrected reports as needed, and that Cruz had not attempted to hide anything.

If the citizenship debate harms Cruz among a Republican electorate suspicious of anything appearing “un-American” (whether or not his Canadian birth proves a legal impediment, which seems unlikely), the Goldman Sachs financial disclosures could undercut his credibility as a self-styled foe of Wall Street’s “crony capitalism” and as an opponent of “New York values.”

The truth is that Ted Cruz probably would not have made it to this point without the help of Wall Street and his wife’s place in it. Therein lies the irony, one not lost on Republican rival Rand Paul, who just released a bizarre campaign ad, "Audit The Ted," criticizing Cruz’s Wall street ties.

Also ironic: The New York Times has reported on Heidi Cruz’s love of “The Apprentice,” the TV show that helped make Donald Trump a celebrity. Mrs. Cruz talked up the show during her 2004 Southern Adventist University commencement address (one last odd coincidence: Ben Carson was Southern’s 2005 commencement speaker). She said in her speech,

I love that show because those people risked failure in front of 28 million viewers to go for something that they really wanted. This wasn’t just any failure. This was banishment from the Park Avenue board room on television. To me, that takes guts.”

This week, the Times noted Mrs. Cruz’s reiteration of her 2004 praise for "The Apprentice," despite current tensions between her husband’s campaign and Donald Trump’s:

I’m not great at TV references, but I did like ‘The Apprentice’ because it was a show that gave people a chance to have a start. There was a measurable result and decision. That’s a thing I like about the private sector. So I’d probably stand behind that reference.”

Ironies aside, Heidi Cruz has been and continues to be instrumental to her husband’s political aspirations. Her career on hold, she has been phone banking and traveling extensively in service of Ted Cruz’s campaign.

If Mr. Cruz succeeds in his White House run, he will be able to say to his wife in all truthfulness, “I couldn’t have done it without you.”

*While Heidi Cruz was raised in a Seventh-day Adventist household, she now identifies with the Baptist faith of her husband Ted Cruz. An earlier version of this article misidentified Heidi Cruz as an Adventist.

Jared Wright is Managing Editor of SpectrumMagazine.org.

If you respond to this article, please:

Make sure your comments are germane to the topic; be concise in your reply; demonstrate respect for people and ideas whether you agree or disagree with them; and limit yourself to one comment per article, unless the author of the article directly engages you in further conversation. Comments that meet these criteria are welcome on the Spectrum Website. Comments that fail to meet these criteria will be removed.

This is a companion discussion topic for the original entry at http://spectrummagazine.org/node/7287
2 Likes
#2

She must have been very instrumental from her position at Goldman Sachs to aid Ted in getting that $500K loan that was “inadvertently” not reported to the IRS. Nothing like the little wife’s inside access to the vaults.

Ted is most disliked by his congressional peers which could make it difficult even to corral his fellow republicans to offer him their support if he became POTUS. It is hoped that before November the electorate will have seen and heard enough to recognize that talk is cheap and congressional support is what counts if changes are to be made as those in office seem allergic to any changes other than restricting individual and personal liberties.

6 Likes
#4

Is it true the Heidi identifies herself as a Seventh-day Adventist? I was under the impression that she does not, though she does mention that she was raised by Seventh-day Adventist parents and has close family and friendships within the SDA community (most notably her brother Scott). It might give the wrong impression to state that she is an “Adventist hoping for a Pennsylvania Avenue mailing address.”

3 Likes
#5

Thank you for the note; you are correct. We verified that Mrs. Cruz now identifies with her husband’s Baptist faith, and the article has been corrected to reflect this.

2 Likes
#6

Quick note of clarification: it was the FEC (rather than the IRS) to which the disclosure was not made. While not tax evasion, the failure was a violation of federal campaign law that requires “timely and accurate disclosure of campaign finance information.” The Cruz campaign insists it was an honest mistake. However, the left-leaning group Texans for Public Justice filed an FEC complaint yesterday alleging that Cruz purposely hid more than $1 million in loans.

#7

Hmmmmm. And where it the outrage with Hillary. But of course her dealings have been ALWAYS above board…

3 Likes
#8

It is my understanding that both of their undisclosed loans (which had been previously disclosed in other FEC filings) were actually loans against their assets. In other words, they were “cashing” out their retirement accounts in order to go “all in” to be able to compete financially. This is similar to when we borrow against our 401k or use our savings account as collateral against a loan. Cruz’s opponents have successfully used the “Goldman Sachs” name but it’s not different than most of us getting a loan from a large, national bank. I’m sure most of us, if we were under the public scrutiny of an election, could be accused of “Bank of America” loans or “Wells Fargo” loans.

#9

Heidi Cruz may have accompanied her SDA dentist father on mission trips, but she did not attend Adventist schools.

Am I an elitist to be impressed by her pedigree?
A bachelor’s degree from Claremont McKenna College, a very selective small liberal arts college in Claremont California and then an MBA from Harvard Business School.

With Senator Cruz having a law degree from Harvard Law, they are a most impressively educated couple.

While Heidi may not currently be an Adventist, at least she is a member of the Southern Baptist community. The Baptists have to be even to the right of the Adventists in that they do not ordain women pastors, and have exceedingly few women in pastoral roles. Like Adventists they are also aggressively anti the LGBT community.

Recently Ted Cruz attended a rally held by evangelical Pastor Kevin Swanson, who calls for the execution of gays and lesbians. Ted accepted the pastor’s endorsement without any comment about the pastor’s anti gay rhetoric.

I sent Senator Cruz an e mail telling him that even the best of families have gay and lesbian children. I asked him if he thought Vice President Cheney would want his lesbian daughter killed, and whether Newt Gingrich would want his lesbian sister condemned to death. I also pointed out that either or both of his little daughters could possibly grow up lesbian. It happens in the best of families!

I naturally had no response from Senator Cruz.

I do believe the couple are devout church going Christians and yes, Heidi is a great asset to her husband. Her family should be proud of her!

1 Like
#10

Just this past week Cruz said of Trump during a New Hampshire campaign event: “Mr. Trump enthusiastically supported the TARP big-bank bailouts. I disagree with him. We should have no bailouts of Wall Street banks.” Cruz has also railed against what he called Wall Street’s “crony capitalism.”

That kind of rhetoric puts him in a tough spot. Goldman Sachs is the eponymous Wall Street bank. Heidi Cruz was employed by Goldman Sachs when it received a $10 Billion tax payer-funded bailout (not long after which Goldman outsourced over 1,000 jobs overseas). Before taking her leave of absence, Heidi Cruz was a managing director–the firm’s second-highest rank, according to Bloomberg. She was promoted to that position in 2013 after working as a vice president since 2006.

She has said that Goldman wasn’t looking for a bailout and that Ted Cruz thinks small businesses and big businesses should be able to get the same governmental benefits. Fair enough.

The problem for Ted Cruz is that he seems to want things both ways–take down Wall Street banks rhetorically, benefit from them personally.

His interconnection with the kind of institution he rails against on the stump might make Ted Cruz and the Goldman Sachs situation a bit different from the average loan recipient receiving a loan from a large national bank.

5 Likes
#11

Ted Cruz is Canadian by birth and not eligible to be PONTUS. One can renounce ones nationality but that does not change a historical fact.

There was some question about Obama but the circumstances about Cruz are straightforward.

1 Like
#12

Actually, Heidi is a graduate of Monterey Bay Academy. As for her husband’s views on the LGBT community, I know for a fact he is not anti-gay in policy. He believes – and rightly so – that states should decide these issues. He is perfectly fine with a state supporting same sex marriage. Recently, he was criticized by some social conservatives for meeting with some major pro-LGBT donors.

#13

It appears you may be ascribing conflicts for Ted based on his wife’s situation and potential conflicts. As a journalist, why don’t you reach out to the Cruz campaign and request an interview of Heidi? (You may have already done so; if so, great!) Personally, I have no problems supporting what Wall Street does yet I oppose federal government bailouts (or any other financial support) for them. Yet my 401k is dependent on a growing stock market. Am I inconsistent?

#15

“hoping for a Pennsylvania Avenue mailing address in 2016” … surely you mean 2017

1 Like
#16

There is no simple answer to the question that this article is asking. There is no denying that Mrs. Cruz has played a major role in her husband’s career. Unfortunately for Senator Ted Cruz his wife’s influence has not helped him to get along collegially with anyone in Congress, even with members of his own party. A person who has worked for him in Iowa summed it up by saying that no one will ever accuse the senator of being humble, sensitive, and empathetic. While Cruz’s grassroots supporters cling to rationalizations on all three of these problems, it does not look good, practically speaking, in Iowa.

  1. Goldman Sachs
    His wife’s employment with the big investment firm and the fact that he borrowed money [from] the company doesn’t square with Cruz’s tea party persona. How will this play in Iowa? Ironically, we just had a Republican U.S. Senate candidate who also worked for Goldman Sachs. Let’s just say he wasn’t really embraced by the grassroots. In the 2010 Republican Third District Congressional primary, a Des Moines Tea Party group alleged that this candidate had been “instrumental” [in garnering] billions of bailout money for a big bank, despite the fact he was just a local financial advisor. If there is one thing the Tea Party movement and the Occupy Wall Street movement have in common, it is a disdain for corporate welfare. Ted Cruz may talk the talk but he does not appear to have been walking the walk.
  2. The Renewable Fuels Standard
    Texas Senator Ted Cruz might be the favorite to win Iowa, but it’s not been smooth sailing. Cruz showed he is committed to Iowa with a six day, 28-stop bus tour of Iowa last week. But despite the impressive crowds that came out to seem him on the road, he was repeatedly asked about his opposition to the Renewable Fuels Standard (RFS) …
    Being against the RFS in Iowa is like being against horse racing, bourbon and Bluegrass music here in Kentucky. Yes, I am aware of the arguments against the RFS, but they are all ideological in nature. None of those arguments are in tune with the practical reality of the importance to Iowa’s economy.
  3. Eligibility
    One of Cruz’s new national co-chairs, Bob Vander Plaats, has in the past praised Trump for aggressively challenging President Obama’s nationality. This leaves me with a big question mark and a contradiction. I mean, it seems that Vander Plaats’ definition of “natural born” citizen did not apply to Barack Obama, therefore it cannot apply either to Ted Cruz. Had Obama been born in Kenya to a mother who was a U.S. citizen, his birth certificate would not have mattered in the slightest if “natural born” refers to being born to a U.S. citizen. Will Vander Plaats withdraw his endorsement of Ted Cruz…or has he changed his mind since these quotes on what a “natural born citizen” is?
1 Like
#17

It was a loan against personal assets, not a donation. Big difference.

The closest thing to being their own money. She worked fair and square to earn those dollars, and to earn the trust of her company to receive the loan against them.

Although he clearly filed, he didn’t file it like he should have. How big a sin that really is in the world of politics depends on your affiliations.

Usually Spectrum is very feminist minded. Usually. Unless it agitates against their political views, apparently.

She has knocked it out of the park in a man’s world. Out-worked, out-thought- out-performed the best of the best to get to the substantial place she is at. Credit is due. She has the guts to pursue a career that might conflict with her husband’s political codes. Wait, Isn’t that to be admired?

In this particular case, I think the Cruz $ is way cleaner than the Clinton $ (G. Soros, Hollywood, Wall Street, etc.) IMO

All is fair in love, war, and politics!

1 Like
#18

There was never any question about President Obama’s birthplace, it was all contrived by right wing fear mongering and advanced by the first place republican candidate at this time–one Donald Trump.

2 Likes
#19

Since this first appeared five days ago and is not to be found in the Lounge, here’s the comment I would make if it were there:

Would Hillary be where she is without Bill?
@George Tichy

#20

I think the question should be "Would Bill have gotten to be PONTUS without Hillary. Most women in Hillary’s situation would either have left him or killed him.or both.

The sad thing about Hillary is that she should have had the nomination 8 years ago before Obama screwed things up. She is too old now.

#21

Respectfully, Ted Cruz would dare provoke announcement to that love sentiment before his wife,” I couldn’t have done it without you” and before the world if he succeeds in his White House run. It is all about Heidi Cruz whom all Seventh-day Adventist women take heed take lesson this is the 21st Century for every successful woman a walk behind her is a weak husband. We are not told behind closed doors – yet there are many weak men who would dare to confess before their wives behind close doors, “ I am weak but thou art strong. With Heidi supports, Ted Cruz has dared to provoke the ire one of the most ruthless and vengeful political forces on the planet, and it’s not Donald Trump. Cruz is fighting the “Washington cartel,” which would be a lot easier if its tentacles didn’t extend all the way into the state crucial to Cruz’s presidential hopes. It’s other Republicans who have refused to bow and scrape before the ethanol industry The Texas senator has crossed the ethanol industry in Iowa, which is a little like getting on the wrong side of the Catholic Church in Vatican City. Ted needs Heidi’s behind closed doors coalition of Seventh-day Adventists and Baptists on ethanol; to it is Cruz who is a threat to the status quo an evangelical who is a hard-liner on his opposition to the so-called Renewable Fuel Standard that is a government prop for the industry. Cruz’s stand against it is an act of relentless courage. Again, it’s not Donald Trump Cruz is fighting.

#22

what we have here is a couple of Newt Genrichs on steroids. Even their party colleagues loath them. Louisiana politics has gone national. TZ