The Republican base in the United States is a fairly crazy lot. Just looking at the politicians they would like to see run for president will confirm that. But Texas teabagging Republicans are special. They want to mix their right-wing ideology with a healthy dose of conspiracy theory -- like believing the U.N. wants to seize Texas (and U.S.) golf courses because they don't represent the best use of that land. That's why they sent Ted Cruz, one of the leading proponents of that conspiracy theory, to the United States Senate.These people are not just crazy -- they are scary-crazy! Now a significant portion of them (about 1 out of 4 Republicans in the state) say they would vote for Ted Cruz (the new Joe McCarthy) to be the 2016 Republican presidential nominee. That's 2 1/2 times as many as would vote for Gov. Rick Perry (who finished fourth in the latest poll).
That survey is the latest University of Texas/Texas Tribune Poll (conducted between May 31st and June 9th of 1,200 Texas voters -- with a 2.83 point margin of error). That poll result has to be very disappointing for Rick Perry (who is seriously considering another run for the nomination) -- to be only the fourth choice in his home state (the choice of only 1 out of 10). And two of those ahead of Perry (Rubio and Paul) would probably do well in many other states among Republicans (as recent polls have shown).
I still have a hard time believing Cruz could win the national party nomination. He is unpopular even with his fellow Republican congress-varmints in Washington. If he ran, I doubt he could do real well outside of Texas -- which once again, makes Texas Republicans a scary group.
But while Texas Republicans are even crazier than those in other states, that same poll shows that Texas Democrats seem to mirror the views of Democrats across the nation. Texas Democrats overwhelming want Hillary Clinton to be their nominee. The Democratic numbers are in the chart below:
