Leppert's New Ad and Cruz's New Challenge

This morning, Tom Leppert released his second television ad, which again highlights his business record and focus on job creation. The ad looks great and has a resonating message. People need jobs, and Leppert claims he is the guy to create them.

I’ve written previously about Leppert’s conservative authenticity gap, but this is a positive step for his campaign.

Perhaps as a result of Leppert’s new ads or to push back against the toll that has been taken to his credibility as a result of the flood of negative articles last week, Ted Cruz issued an open challenge to Lt. Governor David Dewhurst to participate in five Lincoln-Douglas style debates.

If you talk to ten different people about why a challenger with low name ID and zero political experience would ask for debates, you’d probably get ten different answers. The one important trait this exposes from the Cruz campaign is an unsettling arrogance.





Tom Leppert has a potentially strong bloc of voters in Dallas, and is reinforcing that base with hundreds of thousands of dollars in paid media before the holidays. For Cruz to write-off Leppert, who has a nearly 2:1 cash advantage over Ted, demonstrates a rookie’s hubris.

Tom Leppert used his financial advantage to defeat multiple, qualified candidates in his Dallas mayoral race. And he has demonstrated he will say (although not always act on) what it takes to win.



Cruz dismisses his opponents at his own peril.