Cruz Was Tammy Baldwin’s Secret Santa

Sen. Al Franken launched a Secret Santa program in the Senate in 2011 in order to bridge the “partisan divide.” This year the very anti-gay Ted Cruz drew the name of lesbian Sen. Tammy Baldwin. Via Wisconsin’s Cap Times:

Thanks to the intrepid reporting of entertainment gossip outlet TMZ — whose reporters apparently chase after politicians in addition to more glamorous celebrities — America learned this week that Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, was partnered with two Democrats for the Senate Secret Santa exchange, a tradition in its fourth year. One of those Democrats was Wisconsin’s (and Madison’s) own Sen. Tammy Baldwin. “A number of senators participate in a bipartisan way, and we give gifts to each other as a Secret Santa,” Cruz told TMZ. Cruz said there was a limit of $15, because “politicians are inherently cheap.” “I was Tammy Baldwin’s Secret Santa, and she likes cooking, so I gave her a Texas cookbook,” Cruz said. “And Sen. Mark Begich (D-Alaska) was my Secret Santa, and he gave me a collection of food and things from Alaska, which were very nice.”

Baldwin drew Sen. John Walsh (D-MT) and he got Spotted Cow, a Wisconsin craft beer.