While Donald Trump might seem scary at surface level, I believe Ted Cruz is the scariest man in politics right now.

If you are keeping up with the presidential race, you know Trump is leading Cruz in the primaries. For a long time, many people, including myself, were terrified of this fact. Trump certainly seems like the Big Bad Wolf, and many of his ideas want to huff and puff and blow the growth of our country down.

When I looked at Cruz’s statements over the past few months however, not to mention his actual plan for when he is president, I had a sobering realization that the man is a loose cannon in his own right, and that he has the power to do a lot more damage than I once imagined.

The fact is, Cruz is very firmly far right, and he won’t center himself at all if he becomes elected.  Many of Trump’s opinions, including that of abortion, have been jumping all over the place for years. There is no doubt he has changed his view to win the election, because he knows in order to be a Republican candidate one must oppose abortion rights. His views have been switching back and forth just within the past few weeks, when he first said there should be some form of “punishment” for abortion. When he received backlash, he changed his view back to leaving the laws as they are now.

Cruz however, has opposed abortion rights for all of his time in politics. This devout evangelical Christian has deemed the supreme court ruling Roe v. Wade the “dark anniversary”, and plans to make abortion 100 percent illegal if he becomes president. This would include abortions done for the mother’s safety, or due to conception from rape.

Cruz has also burned many bridges in government. His 21-hour filibuster against the Affordable Care Act played a big role in the government shutdown. He’s a loner; he only cares about his agenda and not that of the Republican party, which is partly why he has led them down so many fiscal cliffs in the past. Many of the Republicans in the Senate can’t stand him and hold no trust for him. If he won’t work nicely with his own party, who’s to say he’ll do so with everyone?

So how has a man with outdated policies and few government connections made it this far? The fact is, Cruz has a plan, and it’s an evil one. While Trump is flailing on stage, making a fool out of himself the majority of the time, Cruz is off to the side smugly waiting for Trump’s final fatal mistake. He is in it for the long haul, and if he comes to power he will ring the country out to dry.