Cruz is drawing comparisons to the fictional President Andrew Shepherd (played by Michael Douglas) for his defense of his wife Heidi in an ongoing Battle of the Wives with Donald Trump (and Mitt Romney). Cruz’s warning—“If Donald wants to get into a character fight, he’s better off sticking with me, because Heidi is way out of his league”—is almost identical to Shepherd’s defense of his girlfriend (Annette Bening): “You want a character debate, Bob? You better stick with me, ‘cause Sydney Ellen Wade is way out of your league.” Seeing as he’s a fan, here are some other quotes from Andrew Shepherd that Cruz should consider adopting:
1) “For the record: Yes, I am a card-carrying member of the ACLU.”
2) “You want to claim this land as the land of the free? Then the symbol of your country can’t just be a flag; the symbol also has to be one of its citizens exercising his right to burn that flag in protest.”
3) “That, ladies and gentlemen, is how you win elections. You gather a group of middle-aged, middle-class, middle-income voters who remember with longing an easier time, and you talk to them about family and American values and character.”
4) “Tomorrow morning, the White House is sending a bill to Congress for its consideration. It’s White House Resolution 455, an energy bill requiring a 20 percent reduction of the emission of fossil fuels over the next ten years. It is by far the most aggressive stride ever taken in the fight to reverse the effects of global warming.”
5) “You cannot address crime prevention without getting rid of assault weapons and handguns. I consider them a threat to national security, and I will go door to door if I have to, but I’m gonna convince Americans that I’m right, and I’m gonna get the guns.”
6) “My name is Andrew Shepherd, and I am the president.”