title:  Republican Senators Don’t Want Ted Cruz Anywhere Near Their Re-Election Campaigns
text: Ted Cruz thinks he could be an asset to the campaigns of his fellow Republican senators. There s just one problem, though: most of them don t like him.Republicans currently face an uphill climb this year, especially with Donald Trump at the top of the 2016 ballot. The nomination of Trump presents a major problem for Republicans who hope to keep their seats or take seats away from Democrats.Indeed, instead of riding Trump s coattails to victory, Republicans are looking at down-ballot rejection as people associate them with the Republican nominee and his vile campaign.Despite being destroyed by Trump, Texas Senator Ted Cruz wants to lend a hand to his colleagues. That can go a long way toward establishing good relationships,  one Cruz adviser told The Hill.  At the same time, though, I d be wildly surprised if he suddenly started moderating his principles just to get along. Establishing good rapport with colleagues is incredibly crucial to running for higher office. But Ted Cruz has alienated and pissed off most of his Senate colleagues because of his aggressive losing strategies in recent years, the biggest of which is undoubtedly the government shutdown in 2013.Cruz incited the shutdown because he thought it would force President Obama to dismantle Obamacare. In the end, it was a PR nightmare for Republicans as the American people rightfully blamed them for shutting the government down.But the Cruz adviser thinks his colleagues will be interested in taking Cruz s help. I think politicians are practical people,  he said.  They re going to be pretty interested in the kind of support he can give them I think fewer people would say they don t want him now. Unfortunately for Cruz, he seriously underestimates just how much his colleagues loathe him.As it stands, incumbent Republicans facing tough re-election battles don t want Ted Cruz making their lives more difficult.When asked by The Hill if she would accept help from Ted Cruz, New Hampshire Senator Kelly Ayotte said,  Uh, no. I don t think I d ask anyone to come up, generally, other than I had [Sens.] Joni [Ernst (Iowa)] and Shelley [Moore Capito (W.Va.)] up,  she continued.  This is about me campaigning for New Hampshire. I m going to be focusing on my campaign for me. It s not a reflection on him, or anyone else he hasn t contacted me, but I m sure there s a lot of different races out there. In other words, please don t come to New Hampshire, Ted.In Pennsylvania, Senator Pat Toomey also faces a tough campaign, but that doesn t mean he wants Cruz there to make it worse.[Cruz is] not going to [be] into what my campaign is doing,  Toomey insisted.And then there is Arizona Senator John McCain, who has famously referred to Cruz as a  whacko bird.  Yeah, he definitely does not want Cruz stumping for him in his home state.McCain said he only seeks help from people he is close to.  I m not close to Sen. Cruz,  McCain declared.So it looks like many Republicans would rather not have Cruz s support, which isn t surprising considering how extreme he is on several issues.Frankly, if Cruz wanted his colleagues to be more enthusiastic, perhaps he should have thought about that before becoming the most annoying voice in the Senate.Featured Image: Spencer Platt/Getty Images