What is Ted Cruz's Strategy?

[cinyc]

Why do everyone claim that Ted Cruz for some reason is "smart"? In fact he's dumber than Rubio, and Rubio is clearly not very smart (although he's smarter than most of his opponents).

Cruz graduated cum laude and magna cum laude from Princeton and Harvard Law School and clerked on the Supreme Court for then Chief Justice Rehnquist.  He's not dumb by any stretch.  Dumb people don't get to be Supreme Court clerks.

Perhaps he's hoping to shine in the debates?

Maybe.   According to Wikipedia, Cruz was a very accomplished debater in college and law school, so he should do well in the debates.

[cinyc]

Then why does he always talk like a teenager in every single interview he's ever given? Maybe he just plays stupid then? To me it's much more than a play though. I have absolutely no doubt that his IQ is even much lower than George W. Bush's. People say W's IQ is 125, well then Cruz's can definitely not be higher than 110-115, which explains why he always communicates like an obnoxious teenager. Obama's & Hillary's are both between 140 and 150.

Because you don't like or agree with Cruz and think he talks like a teenager when he actually does not.  Meanwhile, you like and agree with Obama and Hillary and therefore think they are smart.

Objectively, Ted Cruz is one of the smartest candidates on either side of the race right now.  I doubt his IQ is low or even just slightly above average.  Persons with low or average IQs don't graduate at the top of their class from Harvard Law School or clerk for the Supreme Court.

[cinyc]

Then why does he always talk like a teenager in every single interview he's ever given? Maybe he just plays stupid then? To me it's much more than a play though. I have absolutely no doubt that his IQ is even much lower than George W. Bush's. People say W's IQ is 125, well then Cruz's can definitely not be higher than 110-115, which explains why he always communicates like an obnoxious teenager. Obama's & Hillary's are both between 140 and 150.

Because you don't like or agree with Cruz and think he talks like a teenager when he actually does not.  Meanwhile, you like and agree with Obama and Hillary and therefore think they are smart.

Objectively, Ted Cruz is one of the smartest candidates on either side of the race right now.  I doubt his IQ is low or even just slightly above average.  Persons with low or average IQs don't graduate at the top of their class from Harvard Law School or clerk for the Supreme Court.

If he was so smart as you claim, he wouldn't have been the prototype of the US clown for the past 5 years due to his refusal to let millions of government workers do their job. It's quite incredible that one single person can paralyze a whole nation for weeks. Because of him, the US economy was seriously hurt for months. Sounds like the modern Einstein to me. I don't care if he's taken some random exam or has talked to some random Supreme Court justice. The fact that he is seen as the obsolute clown by 7 billion people around the world (and no, I'm not talking about Trump in fact!) should tell you everything you need to know. NO, obviously Cruz is not very smart.

Again, you're calling Cruz dumb because you don't agree with his policies.  And no, he didn't singlehandedly refuse "to let millions of government workers do their job" or "paralyze a whole nation for weeks".  He and others unsuccessfully tried to defund Obamacare a few years ago, which lead to a short government shutdown.  Guess what?  Their efforts were rewarded by the voters, giving Republicans control of the Senate.  And it raised Cruz's profile from being just a junior Senator from Texas to being a darling of the tea party and presidential candidate. 

So who is really stupid, exactly?

[cinyc]

He is the one who's stupid because he believes that by being the leader of the Dumbs, he will ultimately be crowned the next president of the US.

He's not gonna change like a chameleon unlike Trump. He is what he is. That's the definition of stupid. Only smart people can get away with crime. Like Christie or Hillary or whatever. Cruz on the other hand is way too stupid to ever get away from a crime scene. I used to think the same about Rick Perry, but then suddenly he started acting like a completely different person. So either Perry is much smarter than I thought, or he's just schizofrenic.

While I don't know if it is true about Cruz, not everyone is in the race because they think they can win.  Some are in the race to guide the debate to their point of view.  Others are in it to gain a higher profile and get a job in the next administration or set up for future runs.   Still others are in it for the money.

Perry was on painkillers last time he ran due to a bad back.  He isn't this time.  He is thinking clearer and may run better than he did in 2012.  Or not.  One gaffe will sink his campaign faster than with other candidates due to past history.

[cinyc]

This thread is hilarious. You have Low IQ democrats calling Cruz stupid. LOL.

The average Democrat has a higher IQ than the average Republican. This is objective.

Prove me wrong.

Prove yourself right.  If we refute your claim, it'll inevitably lead to us being called racist, classist or whatever, but I'll give it a try:

Postgrad, urban White liberals are a comically small portion of your actual party, and I'll guess that wealthy suburbanites and business folk (a competitively larger chunk of the GOP) have a higher IQ than inner-city poor people and union members.

They're really not as small of a portion of the party as Republicans like to believe. At this point, somewhere between 50 and 60% of the Democratic voter base is white. And the majority of those are, at this point, white liberals. Whether they be urban, suburban, or rural.

Even your average Democrat who isn't a liberal is smarter than your average Republican.

Again, you're the one making a baseless claim and asking others to prove you wrong ... You realize how ridiculous that is?

Fact: People who identify as Republicans have, on average, a 2-5 point higher verbal IQs than self-identified Democrats.
Fact: People who vote Republican have, on average, a 2 point higher verbal IQs over those who vote Democratic.

So your average Republican is smarter than your average Democrat.