That's an easy question: The reason that Ted Cruz is considered to be anti-establishment is because so many people who are generally recognized to be in the Republican establishment hate the guy. In fact, it is more that the establishment is anti-Cruz than the other way around.
By any other measure, a sitting senator like Cruz, who worked for the Bush administration, and holds just about every view of GOP orthodoxy would be the establishment. But these days, the prevailing wisdom is that you won't do well in the GOP primary unless you claim to be anti-establishment, which is what all the candidates do, to one extent or another. Cruz's claims resonate more than others because the establishment is supporting his claim by telling everyone what an awful person Cruz is.
But, in fact, it's not just the establishment that hates Cruz. Everyone who has ever spent time with the guy seems to hate him. All Cruz has done is take his general unpleasantness and spun it into an argument that he is a threat to the GOP establishment because look how much they all hate him, while ignoring the fact that lots of people outside the GOP establishment hate him too.
By any other measure, a sitting senator like Cruz, who worked for the Bush administration, and holds just about every view of GOP orthodoxy would be the establishment. But these days, the prevailing wisdom is that you won't do well in the GOP primary unless you claim to be anti-establishment, which is what all the candidates do, to one extent or another. Cruz's claims resonate more than others because the establishment is supporting his claim by telling everyone what an awful person Cruz is.
But, in fact, it's not just the establishment that hates Cruz. Everyone who has ever spent time with the guy seems to hate him. All Cruz has done is take his general unpleasantness and spun it into an argument that he is a threat to the GOP establishment because look how much they all hate him, while ignoring the fact that lots of people outside the GOP establishment hate him too.
