The 2016 Republican presidential race has been unusual for many reasons. It all started some time ago when 17 different people entered the field. The large number of candidates could not all be hosted on the same stage at the same time during debates. This resulted in controversy over who was able to appear in the primetime debates and who would be forced into a second debate aired much earlier. The candidates started dropping out long before the first primaries were even held. The contest for the nomination heated up as the candidates resorted to smear tactics and childish attacks instead of talking about real issues. Donald Trump dominated the field and still has a commanding lead.
Texas Senator Ted Cruz managed to make it through all the chaos and remain in the race. Cruz started to rack up victories and delegates as Republican voters finally went to the polls. The contest is now technically between Trump and Cruz unless something happens at the Republican convention in July. The problem is that Cruz has a very negative image within his own party and with average American voters. He has a reputation as being unlikeable. He tended to look out for his own interested instead of working with other elected officials for the greater good of the country. Despite this, many people who do not want to see a Trump presidency are willing to vote for Cruz regardless of personal opinions that he is not a good candidate.
Ted Cruz also comes from a very religious background. He is an outspoken Evangelical Christian. Cruz does not attempt to hide the fact that he allows his religion to affect his policy decisions and votes. This troubles many people in the country including those in his own party. Cruz does not seem to think there should be a separation of church and state. He has repeatedly supported legislation that would turn Christian doctrine into law. He has also been accused of being an “end times” believer who thinks the Christian apocalypse will happen soon. Cruz is against marriage equality, equal pay for women and civil rights protections for sexual orientation and gender identity.
It turns out that Cruz was never well liked even while he was in college. Cruz lived with a roommate named Craig Mazin while he was in college. Mazin came out several months ago on social media describing what it was like to be around Ted Cruz in the dorms. Mazin described the presidential candidate as creepy and strange. Video even surfaced of Cruz joking around in a very awkward way while in school. The roommate said that basically no one like Cruz back then.
Cruz has been preaching a puritanical version of Christianity ever since he graduated from college. He became solicitor general and started trying to invade the privacy of people in the state. “There is no substantive due-process right to stimulate one’s genitals for non-medical purposes unrelated to procreation or outside of an interpersonal relationship,” Cruz said in 2004. He was attempting to support a complete ban on sex toys, masturbation and premarital sex at the time. That statement caught the attention of his former roommate.
Mazin sent out a Twitter message claiming “Ted Cruz thinks people don’t have a right to ‘stimulate their genitals.’ I was his college roommate. This would be a new belief of his.” The roommate has never held back about trying to expose the hypocrisy of the candidate. The post from the roommate is not likely to have much of an impact on the race. The people who support Cruz are largely doing so simply because he is not Donald Trump. Mazin does help to paint a more complete picture of Cruz.