Is Ted Cruz Leading The GOP Over Another Cliff, This Time On Immigration Reform? What Would Susan Collins Say?

Polling indicates that Ted Cruz would be the easiest Republican for a Democratic presidential nominee to beat in 2016. That may be because he's the most extreme and radical right-winger the GOP has ever come close to nominating, or it might just be because the polls are measuring a lack of name recognition. But there is no lack of name recognition on the far right fringes. Out there, especially in the former slave-holding states that rebelled against the U.S. and tried to set up their own right-wing paradise, Cruz is the top choice among conservative Republicans to run in 2016. After backing garden variety Establishment doofuses two elections in a row who didn't represent their values, the far right feels it's their turn now to select the losing candidate.

A fast-talking self-promoter and unprincipled opportunist, Cruz is just what the Democratic Party needs to take back Congress after the disasters Steve Israel at the DCCC and Guy Cecil-- and his handpicked puppet Michael Bennet-- at the DSCC are bringing Democrats in 2014. Monday, Lee Fang, writing at The Nation helped shine a light on the motivations behind Cruz's horrifying record of sociopathic-- if not neo-fascist-- obstructionism. He used Cruz's decision to block immigration reform as the example.

In arguing against the bill, Cruz charges regularly that proponents of reform are merely playing politics. “It is designed for it to sail through the Senate and then crash in the House to let the president go and campaign in 2014 on this issue,” he said.

In an interview that aired earlier this month, Cruz admitted that he is the one using the livelihood of millions of undocumented immigrants for partisan gain.

Speaking with Houston-based radio host Michael Berry, Cruz said he hopes that Speaker John Boehner will not take on immigration reform next year. Doing so, Cruz argued, would diminish the “incredible opportunity to retake the Senate in 2014.” Cruz emphasized that he is focused on winning the Senate majority from Democrats, and said passing immigration reform legislation would be the “number one thing Republicans could do to mess that up.”

Cruz also said comprehensive immigration would amount to “kicking millions of Americans in the teeth.” During the chat, the freshman senator did not offer any concrete policy solutions, noting only that those seeking to pass legislation “refuse to stand for principle.” The Senate version of the bill includes a pathway to citizenship of over 13 years, with many barriers and fines, along with over $50 billion of increased border security.

Cruz's strategy puts Republicans in non-Confederate states in a bind. There are two Republican senators up for reelection in 2014 who can't win without independent and moderate voters: Mitch McConnell in Kentucky and Susan Collins in Maine. Both have Tea Party extremists pushing them further right against comprehensive immigration reform and both have strong Democratic women promising to back reform. Alison Lundergan Grimes in Kentucky is overly cautious and frightened to take controversial stands, but Shenna Bellows isn't. The former Executive Director of the Maine ACLU, Bellows has a long and outstanding record of standing up for people being crushed by the system.

"I was a founding member of the Maine Immigrants' Rights Coalition," she told us yesterday, "because I believe that immigrants are fundamental to the American dream. Together, we organized support in Maine for federal reforms including the DREAM Act and comprehensive immigration reform. I organized a group of Business Leaders for Sensible Immigration Policy. Groups like the Chamber of Commerce recognize what civil rights leaders have been saying for a long time: a more just and equal society is a more prosperous one. Comprehensive immigration reform is important policy for civil rights and our economy."

That's not what Ted Cruz wants people hearing-- and it's not what Susan Collins wants Mainers hearing either.