The Day That Bill Clinton Met Ted Cruz

http://www.nytimes.com/2016/05/17/us/politics/the-day-that-bill-clinton-met-ted-cruz.html

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Campaign schedules make strange bedfellows. Small airports make for a small world.

So it was, in the throes of the presidential primary chaos, that the tarmac of Mobile Regional Airport in Alabama hosted an unusual encounter in late February: former President Bill Clinton and Senator Ted Cruz of Texas, exchanging pleasantries and holding forth on the state of an election that often included a stark prediction from Mr. Cruz on the stump.

He would take the White House, he told voters. And for Hillary Clinton, “I’ve got slightly different government housing in mind.”

A jail cell.

As he headed to Montgomery, Ala., for a campaign stop on Feb. 27, Mr. Cruz had fired off an email to supporters warning of Mrs. Clinton as the country’s greatest danger.

“I am the only candidate who’s got a proven track record to contrast and prosecute the case against Hillary and her left-wing ideology,” Mr. Cruz wrote.

But that afternoon, Mr. Cruz came upon Mr. Clinton at the airport, where both men happened to have landed for events for the respective campaigns.

Angel Urena, a spokesman for Mr. Clinton, and Catherine Frazier, a spokesman for Mr. Cruz, both confirmed the encounter, but declined to discuss any details of what happened or what they discussed.

But according to three people briefed on the interaction, who were granted anonymity to describe the meeting, Mr. Cruz had landed at the airport before Mr. Clinton did, for an event tucked into his schedule just a day earlier. The Secret Service traveling with Mr. Clinton established that Mr. Cruz was on the other plane with a small coterie of aides; when Mr. Cruz learned that the former president was there, he expressed interest in saying hello, according to the people briefed on the encounter.

The visit, in many ways, was a vintage performance for Mr. Clinton, who as president made a point of attempting to charm political rivals. That is not an approach that Mr. Cruz has taken since becoming a senator, although his rise in politics was fueled in part by personal relationships with members of a Washington establishment that he publicly disparages.

Still, Mr. Clinton, without staffers by his side, joined Mr. Cruz and three aides, according to the people briefed on the encounter.

Mr. Cruz made a reference to his pitched fight in the Republican race with Donald J. Trump, who was on his way to defeating Mr. Cruz across much of the South; his voice hoarse, Mr. Clinton replied that he found the Republican contest interesting, according to one person briefed on the exchange.

The meeting was brief; after a few minutes, Mr. Clinton and Mr. Cruz went their separate ways.

Mrs. Clinton, of course, remained a daily target for Mr. Cruz, who condemned her policies and joked occasionally about plans to “bake her a cake and send it” to her prospective jail cell upon taking office.

Mr. Clinton was a less frequent foil, though years ago, Mr. Cruz did play a bit role himself during a low moment for Mr. Clinton.

As a young Washington lawyer in the late 1990s, Mr. Cruz recalled in his book, he helped prepare his boss’s expert testimony before the House of Representatives in Mr. Clinton’s impeachment proceedings.