Senator Ted Cruz (R-Texas) (Photo by SUSAN WALSH/POOL/AFP via Getty Images)
(CNSNews.com) – The outcome of the presidential election “turns on two things,” Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) told NBC’s Meet the Press” – “if people are optimistic and hopeful about the future” and are going back to work, that will be in the Republicans’ favor, and “if they’re pessimistic,” depressed and hopeless, it will help the Democrats.
Cruz was clarifying comments he made a CNBC interview last night, which host Chuck Todd said showed that the senator was “worried about a complete sweep.”
“What is it specifically that you believe has put you in a situation where you could lose everything, the White House, the Senate, down the line?” Todd asked.
“Well, you know, a lot of the headlines out of that interview caught half of what I said. So the point I made is that I think there’s an incredible volatility in politics, right now. The delta between possible outcomes is as wide as I’ve ever seen. So I said, “Look, I think there’s a scenario, I believe President Trump can win,” Cruz said.
“In fact, I believe he can have a significant victory, and Republicans could take both houses of Congress, but I also think it’s possible that we see a Democratic sweep where they win everything and it is a victory of Watergate proportions,” the senator said.
“And I don’t recall an election in my life with the spread, the delta between those two possible outcomes, this close to an election being that wide, and Chuck, I think the outcome really turns on two things. Number one, it turns on optimism. If people are optimistic and hopeful about the future, if they’re going back to work, that will be a factor in a very good election for Republicans,” he said.
“If they’re pessimistic and depressed and hopeless, that will help the Democrats, and number two, turnout. As you know, historically, we have two kinds of elections, persuasion elections and turnout elections. Persuasion election, you’re fighting over a small band of voters in the middle who are undecided. Turnout elections, both sides are trying to turn out their base,” Cruz said.
“I think this is a turnout election. I think the hard left is showing up, no matter what. They hate the president, and the big open question is, does everybody else show up? I hope that they do. I’m working hard to turn everyone else out. If people turn out, it’ll be a good election for Republicans. If people stay home, if they’re demoralized, that’s how we get into a terrible election,” the senator added.
