Obama used his considerable communications skills to ride his unworkable ideas all the way to the White House. Perhaps some liberals worry that Cruz could be a formidable candidate, too.

Truth be told, some moderate Republicans agree with the liberal critique of Cruz, although most don’t want to say so for public consumption. They worry that the new senator is using his talents to stir up the GOP base for lost causes — defunding Obamacare is Exhibit A — that could ensure Republican defeat for years to come.

But it’s possible that what worries them most is Cruz’s sheer talent. Anyone who watched his performance this week at the Heritage Action Defund Obamacare town hall in Dallas would concede that Cruz is able to take a wrongheaded proposal and make an absolutely compelling argument for it.

It’s not easy. Acknowledging that Republicans don’t have the votes to defund the president’s health care law, Cruz essentially seeks to create a wave of public outrage that would force Congress to go along with the small number of Republicans behind the defunding initiative. If that doesn’t work, Cruz proposes to “win the argument” by persuading the public to blame President Obama for any government shutdown that results.