The last two elections created and solidified a whole new group of what you might call surfer Republicans. If you’re a Rand Paul or a Ted Cruz or a Marco Rubio, everyone said you were delusional when you first set out to take down a far more established Republican in your state. The sages said you couldn’t possibly raise enough money or get enough attention to win. And then you rode the wave and did exactly that. You can’t tell a tea party sensation like Cruz that he can’t run because there are too many other candidates vying in the same space. Once a politician feels invincible, only the voters can disabuse him of the idea.
The last three off-year elections were wave elections in which at least one chamber of Congress changed hands and had a profound effect on shaping the current leadership of both parties. It’s no accident that the only Democrat considered a truly national, galvanizing candidate is a failed presidential hopeful from 2008 who hasn’t held elective office since. The elections of 2010 and 2014 pretty much wiped out any chance the party had of developing a new class of stars. You basically have Elizabeth Warren and Cory Booker, and then a bunch of other folks you wouldn’t notice if you accidentally spilled cappuccino on them at Starbucks.
And don’t think all of this doesn’t draw in candidates whose careers predated the last few cycles, too. If you’re Jeb Bush or Rick Perry or Mike Huckabee, you think to yourself: Why should I sit this one out and watch while Cruz blusters himself into the vice presidency, just because he happened to run at the right moment in Texas?
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