Given a choice between huddling in a dark and freezing house, waiting for the government to do something, and taking the family down to Cancun to enjoy the beach, how many sane people would opt for the former, assuming that nothing was stopping them from choosing option number two? None – that’s how many. With that, the defense of Texas Senator Ted Cruz (R) rests.

Oh, but he’s a Senator. He should set an example. He shouldn’t be abandoning his fellow Texans – many of whom chose him to be their representative in the upper chamber of the United States Congress – in their hour of need. Really? And how, exactly, would anyone in the Lone Star State have fared better through the vicious winter storm had Cruz not whisked his wife and children off to warmer climes in Mexico? Would the senator otherwise have been repairing power lines or trying to thaw out frozen wind turbines?

Now, in all fairness, a lot of people in Texas had neither the opportunity nor the resources to fly off to sunny, foreign resorts. They, unfortunately, had to hunker down and suffer winter’s cruel onslaught. That’s hardly a good reason to condemn Cruz, though. Once again, most sane people would have done the same, given a chance.

Not the Senator’s Best Moment

Americans have the right to expect certain things from those they elect to govern them. They are entitled to expect honesty, transparency, sound decision-making, loyalty to the Constitution, and faithful adherence to the agendas that the officials in question vowed to pursue when they campaigned for office.

Well, OK, from a public relations point of view, Cruz’s decision to skip town may not have constituted sound decision-making. “In hindsight, I wouldn’t have done it,” he admitted to reporters. Er, yes, Ted, it wasn’t one of your brightest moments.

Where was the crime, though? Where was the moral or ethical failure? Was this a corrupt or dishonest act? Were anyone’s rights violated, other than the rights of Texas voters to expect better judgment from their senators? After all, it’s not like Cruz made a decision that led to the deaths from COVID-19 of thousands of seniors. It’s not like he videotaped a message while in Cancun, instructing his fellow Texans to remain indoors.

The Left’s Ulterior Motives

So, what’s the real story behind Cruz’s catastrophically-contemplated and constantly caricatured Cancun kerfuffle? It’s quite simple – and it is, unfortunately for the senator, a marvelous opportunity for the left to accomplish two different goals at once.

In California, Governor Gavin Newsom (D) is on the verge, quite possibly, of being recalled for his atrocious handling of the COVID crisis and his subsequent outrageous hypocrisy in openly defying the very restrictions he imposed on the residents of his state. In New York, Governor Andrew Cuomo (D) is also in political peril – not to mention being investigated by the FBI – for, well, read about Newsom above and apply it to Cuomo. Then add to that the decision to bundle a bunch of elderly COVID patients into New York nursing homes – a decision that, allegedly, led directly to the deaths of thousands.

Naturally, the leftist media does not want to spend any more time than they have to, covering these stories – even despite the fact that a lot of Democrats are now saying Cuomo has to go. Of course, governor of New York is a highly desirable political office. Perhaps at least a few of the members of Cuomo’s party trying to oust him have their eyes on his mansion, rather than being genuinely upset about his decision-making.

A wonderful distraction, then, is what Sen. Cruz provided. But that’s not all. Ted’s terrible trading of Texas toast for tequila and tortillas also gave the left a chance to pile on with criticisms of a man who is squarely in its crosshairs. Texas is the next big prize for Democrats, now that they have effectively flipped Georgia. This makes Cruz’s Senate seat just about the most highly-coveted piece of furniture in the country.

A bad decision, then, from a political perspective, but the avalanche of negative press for Cruz has been nothing more than a smoke-screen. The senator is a potential 2024 presidential candidate, which gave the left even more incentive to go after him, but his little excursion will surely be overshadowed by so many crimes, gaffes, scandals, and acts of sheer stupidity on the part of his various detractors, over the next two or four years, that few will remember or care by the time mail-in ballots are next air-dropped, willy-nilly, from sea to shining sea.

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Read more from Graham J. Noble.