What a difference a year makes.



It was one year ago on July 18, 2016 that Republicans of all ages, stripes and ideological predilections gathered in Cleveland, Ohio, to kick off the first day of their quadrennial party convention. Granted a lot of people have very short memories, but it’s almost impossible to forget just how divided the GOP was 365 sunsets ago and by comparison, how unified it is today.



To rehash, the convention’s opening day schedule included the typically non-dramatic (and flat-out boring most years) roll call of the states to officially nominate the party’s presidential nominee. By that time Donald Trump had secured more than enough delegates to earn the Republicans’ formal go-ahead on the first ballot yet still there were forces at the convention determined to “free” the entire party delegation to “vote their conscience” and pick a new standard-bearer who would then rise up like a Phoenix from the ashes and defeat the feared and loathed Hillary Clinton.



There were a number of problems with the “free the delegates” theory, not the least of which was the fact the #NeverTrump promoters didn’t offer a specific replacement candidate for Trump should he be knocked off his presidential nominee pedestal. And hard as it was to believe, even back then the party establishment was firmly in Trump’s camp, led by Republican National Chairman-turned-Trump chief of staff Reince Priebus.



Speaker Paul Ryan presided over the roll call, delivering a less than enthusiastic performance in visibly yearning to tamp down the unrest on the convention floor below him propagated by the anti-Trump contingent.



Of course one of the biggest questions going into the convention concerned whether Senator Ted Cruz, the second place finisher in the bitterly disputed Republican primary campaign, would finally utter the “endorse” word in reference to Trump. Cruz was nowhere to be seen at the convention’s opening yet he was certainly on the minds of those seeking to make trouble for the new Republican Party leader.



I found it curious how the cabal aligned against Trump couldn’t get itself to rally around someone like Cruz, who not only ran a reasonably close second to Trump in terms of delegates earned during the contested portion of the primary season, but also clearly represented the principled limited government conservative side of the spectrum in the GOP.



The fact that a number of the #NeverTrumpers also despised Cruz indicated the opposition to the outsider candidates was really just a cover for the disgruntled Bush wing of the party, the group that felt most offended when Trump labeled Jeb Bush “low energy Jeb” and overtly blamed former president George W. Bush for the foreign policy mess the country was in under Obama.



None of the sour-grapes Bushes showed up to the convention; also conspicuously absent were 2008 and 2012 GOP nominees John McCain and Mitt Romney; Ohio Governor and third-place finisher John Kasich didn’t make an appearance either, and neither did more than 20 senators and several House members, along with a half-dozen prominent Republican governors.



A spokesman for #NeverTrump Nebraska Senator Ben Sasse said of the Midwesterner’s decision not to come to see Trump nominated, “Sen. Sasse will not be attending the convention and will instead take his kids to watch some dumpster fires across the state, all of which enjoy more popularity than the current front-runners.” Ouch.



A number of other obsessively politics-wary Republican congressmen and senators stayed away as well – or kept a low profile, including Utah’s Orrin Hatch, who said “I have second thoughts, but I’ll be there.”



Second thoughts, Orrin? About what? Does Hatch still believe that?



Again, it may be hard to contemplate now but Utah was perhaps the epicenter of Republican Trump “resistance” last year and it wasn’t clear until Election Day that the GOP presidential candidate would prevail in perhaps the most safely Republican (by percentage) state in the country. Hatch redeemed himself – somewhat – during the confirmation hearings for Justice Neil Gorsuch. But it’s interesting to recall how he almost refused to cooperate back then.



Then-Senator now Attorney General Jeff Sessions delivered the formal nominating speech to a smattering of applause and a few boos. It was quite a scene.



But despite the hullabaloo of the first day much of the focus remained on the holdout Cruz. Perhaps for that reason it’s a little ironic that the Texas Senator is leading the effort a year later to try and bring the party together again to pass the Senate’s revised healthcare bill.



Al Weaver of the Washington Examiner reported last week, “Cruz said that he will vote ‘yes’ on a motion-to-proceed vote Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., hopes to bring to the floor early [this] week.



“’I think this new bill represents a substantial improvement over the previous version, and there are several changes that significantly improve our ability to reduce premiums,’ Cruz said.



“Cruz acknowledged that the bill is not a full repeal and replace of the Affordable Care Act, and said that while he preferred a clean repeal vote, there are not the votes for that to take place.”



In doing so Cruz has shown remarkable growth as a politician, senator and leader. When you are part of the minority opposition it’s okay to hold out for everything you want because you really risk little or nothing by separating yourself from the rest. But as a member of a razor-thin majority – and opposed by a united leftist Democrat party – it’s imperative to try and forge some sort of compromise that allows you to maintain your principles and still pass legislation.



Cruz has done that. Unlike the vast majority of establishment-favoring senators who instantly went along with whatever Mitch McConnell initially introduced, Cruz held out and continued to negotiate for concessions. With President Trump indicating he would be “very angry” if the Republican Congress fails to send him a bill to sign, the entire country is waiting to see what they come up with.



At stake are not only the 2018 midterm elections (which Cruz is up for re-election) but possibly the future electoral viability of the entire party. Cruz admits the bill isn’t a full repeal of Obamacare but there just isn’t the will among the GOP caucus to pass one. So at that point rather than beat your head against a wall you revert to the proverbial plan B and go with the best “deal” you can swing.



Perhaps in this sense Cruz has taken a page out of Trump’s philosophy on making “deals”. But it also shows Ted learned a valuable lesson a year ago when he delivered his non-endorsement speech at the convention, one that got him booed off the stage and put his political career at risk. In that moment alone Cruz went from being a conservative hero to a virtual goat who threatened to turn the keys to the White House over to a woman who was bent on bringing down the republic.



Cruz’s was not seen as a principled move; it was viewed as selfish and childish, the product of a bitter man who wouldn’t admit that he’d been bested in the no-rules game of twenty-first century politics.



Some will no doubt disagree but from my perspective it’s great to see Cruz morphing into an established leader in the conservative movement while also recognizing that he needed to change in order to accomplish his end goals. As far as healthcare is concerned we can only hope Trump is true to his word and this is only the beginning of the process and Republicans will keep improving the system until it’s something most people can be happy with.



Further, the onus for assenting to important legislation now shifts to the “moderate” establishment faction of the party, the one holding out for more and bigger government goodies to shower on their constituents in a false hope that money can buy happiness – and love.



Any animosity from a public impatient for progress should be sent in their direction. Let the Susan Collinses and Dean Hellers of the Senate feel the full weight of half the American people on top of their wavering personalities. If the “moderates” are truly concerned with preserving Medicaid they should be cognizant of the fact the entire system will collapse unless something is done soon.



There should be a grassroots army mobilized to make them hear the voices of people who have been smothered by Obamacare. The left has turned out mobs of protesters at town hall meetings; conservatives need to provide a megaphone for those in favor of Republicans being forced to keep their promises.



If those “moderates” need perspective all they need to do is glance back to a time not so long ago when the party was fractured and there was little hope on the horizon for unity and reconciliation. Kind of like a year ago today when most Republicans gathered in the crucial state of Ohio to nominate Donald John Trump for president.