Performative Politics
Senator Ted Cruz is the embodiment of performative politics as was evidenced by his recent hiccups in relation to the storms in Texas. Cruz decided to leave Texas and go on a vacation while his constituents froze and didn’t have the resources to flee to Cancun, Mexico like Cruz. Cruz decided that his job as Senator is not to provide service to his people, but rather to coordinate in the warm comfort of a hotel in Cancun, and why is that?
When you think about it, it makes perfect sense, he views his job as being a cultural warrior that focuses on the latest online battle or the new hot topic of the minute. He doesn’t view his office as a service to his constituents because he is looking ahead to the future to be President and to win over the cultural warriors. His main goal is to be President running on the cultural wars of cancel culture, radical liberalism and whatever new trending topic on Twitter is.
Contrast that with the service of Alexandria Ocasio Cortez, who immediately decided that she could use her vast donor network, which Ted Cruz also has to raise over $5 million as of today. She decided that she could get her donors to raise money for Texans and also went down to Texas to work in a food distribution center, doing heavy labor, while also focusing on the culture wars that she is more preeminent for. She does go along with the cultural wars and publicity, but she also uses her platform to do the heavy lifting because she doesn’t view her service to her constituents as secondary to her ambitions.
What was most evident is that Ted Cruz is more similar to Donald Trump than I had realized, as both view the office of the Presidency as more important than actually helping the people. I have no doubt that AOC wants to be President, which is egotistical, but she also views her job as service to her constituents and those that aren’t her constituents. We saw real leadership embodied by AOC and others that served their communities and not themselves.
The modern day Republican Party is all about symbolism and performative arts focusing on grievances and victimhood. They don’t view themselves as servants to the American people, rather they view their calling as figuring out whatever is the newest cultural affair to fight and split this country apart.