WASHINGTON Something strange is happening with Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) lately. Hes been presenting an unusually reasonable, more moderate version of himself.

In a CNN interview late Wednesday, Cruz suggested hes taken the high road in response to Donald Trump accusing his father of assassinating President John F. Kennedy. And in response to Trump lying about defeating him in Iowa in the 2016 GOP presidential primary. And in response to Trump smearing his wife.

When he became president, I had a choice to make. I could be pissed, said the Texas senator. But if I was going to do that? Hed just been elected president. I got a job. I got a job to represent 30 million Texans. And frankly, if I was going to let my hurt feelings make me say, Im not going to work with you? I needed to be prepared to resign my job and go home.

I value civility in politics, he added. I think we should treat each other with respect, even if we disagree with each other.

Days earlier, Cruz, who is the top Republican on the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation, celebrated his role in the bipartisan passage of a bipartisan law that authorizes bipartisan funding for the Federal Aviation Administration. It was a very bipartisan win.

I am immensely proud that our bipartisan FAA reauthorization, which received overwhelming support from lawmakers in both parties, is now law, the Texas senator said in a statement .

Even skimming the press releases on Cruzs Senate website this year, theres been a noticeable uptick in the use of the word bipartisan in his statements lately. And earlier this week, he posted a polished video and message on social media hailing Texans for their ability to come together after a natural disaster.

What is happening here? This conciliatory version of Cruz is quite a contrast to that other guy typically roaming the halls of the Senate: a rabid partisan known for his displays of performative outrage for the cameras , the architect of the 2013 government shutdown that failed to defund Obamacare and the first U.S. senator to stand up to object to certifying President Joe Bidens 2020 election victory.

We are witnessing normal Ted Cruz rebrand himself as election-year Ted Cruz, a more palatable version of himself designed to appeal to more voters as he takes on a moderate Democrat in November after having barely won reelection last time.