Among his colleagues in the Senate, Texas Senator Ted Cruz is about as popular as an sexually transmitted disease or a barrel of nuclear waste. He’s even been called “the most hated man in the United States Senate.” Arizona Senator John McCain has referred to him as a “wacko bird.”
And now his fellow Senators who are up for reelection in November are sending him a very strong warning: Stay the hell away from our campaigns and don’t endorse or support us.
Kelly Ayotte (NH), John McCain (AZ), and Pat Toomey (PA) are all facing very touch reelection bids and each has told Cruz they don’t want to see him campaigning for them in any form whatsoever. As Ayotte noted:
“I don’t think I’d ask anyone to come up, generally, other than I had [Sens.] Joni Ernst (IA) and Shelley Moore Capito (WV) up.
“This is about me campaigning for New Hampshire. I’m going to be focusing on my campaign for me. It’s not a reflection on him, or anyone else…he hasn’t contacted me, but I’m sure there’s a lot of different races out there.”
In other words, Ayotte wants no part of any help or assistance from Cruz. She isn’t asking, and she doesn’t plan to anytime this century.
Toomey was even more dismissive of Cruz, commenting:
“[Cruz is] not going to [be] into what my campaign is doing.”
If you’re looking for a Senate seat the GOP is almost guaranteed to lose, it would indeed be Toomey’s in the heavily Democratic state of Pennsylvania.
Meanwhile, a senior aide to Cruz said:
“I think politicians are practical people. They’re going to be pretty interested in the kind of support he can give them…I think fewer people would say they don’t want him now.”
Yep, it sounds like the most hated man in the Senate is still hated by just about everyone he encounters.
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