Recently Ted Cruz was spotted on a plane to Cancun, which was criticized as the state is currently in a state of emergency due to power failures. But what exactly is a US Senator expected to do in a situation like this? Cruz doesn't have any executive authority within Texas and while I'm sure he could propose a law in Congress that would help the Texas power grid in the future, its not exactly a pressing concern.
So what could Ted Cruz have done to help his home state if he stayed on US soil?
Display compassion and dignity.
Society benefits from a perception of solidarity, whatever the individual actually feels. That might appear nonsensical from a strict utilitarian viewpoint (nobody else gets warmer if the Senator does not have a holiday), but humans are emotional beings.
For that matter, any non-essential travel during the pandemic sets a very bad example.
The problem here isn't what Cruz could have done. I mean, Senators have a lot of informal influence — there aren't that many people who can call a governor or other state officials directly and expect to get through, you know, but Senators surely can — and that could be put to good use even if there's noting 'official' that Cruz could do. For instance, Cruz could have gotten the FEMA generators distributed and implemented merely by calling around and getting the right people in FEMA in contact with the right people in Texas. But that isn't what bothers people.
What bothers people is the overt fact that Cruz found himself in the same unpleasant situation as the rest of Texas, but rather than responding as part of the community to face the problem — as one expects of a supposed public servant — he acted like a spoiled aristocrat, using his power and wealth to fly himself and his family off to warmer climes while the peons were left to suffer through as best they can. The act comes off as entitled and arrogant; as though he's too important to be bothered by the petty troubles of the citizens who elected him to office. It was a selfish, elitist move, one which wasn't helped by his half-baked excuses and apparent indifference to criticism.
People have a tendency to minimize this as mere 'optics', but 'optics' is a huge part of political leadership: setting the tone and tenor of a political moment. The tone Cruz set here was an air of glib indifference, with the message that each Texan is on his own, and political leaders don't really cares what happens as long as they don't have to be in the middle of it. Unless that was his intention, he failed in his political role.
There are some things a Senator can assist with. Most notably in helping to coordinate Federal emergency aid
“There are official things that you need to be doing in terms of coordination of federal resources, but there’s also a lot of outreach you can be doing that isn’t just performative,” Dennis said. “It’s meaningful when an elected official feels people’s pain and sees what they are going through.”
President Biden approved disaster funding for Texas on Sunday, and while that allows the Federal Emergency Management Agency to begin providing fuel, water, blankets and other resources, members of Congress know their districts well and have a role in helping to direct those resources. It’s possible a Congress member’sW staff could help direct those resources — but a staffer isn’t a substitute for the actual elected official, Dennis says.
“It’s always more effective when the senator is making those calls than when their staff is,” he said. “A senator can get through to the head of FEMA, or to the White House, when their staff might not be able to.”
