Posted on 04/10/2015 8:20:42 PM PDT by VinL
The Texas senator’s NRA address is polished, crowd-pleasing, and occasionally quite loud. Texas senator Ted Cruz was the last major speaker at the National Rifle Association’s Leadership Forum on Friday – an indicator that NRA convention organizers knew attendees would stay in their seats until the end to hear him. Cruz’s dynamic speech, and the attendees’ enthusiastic response, offers one more example of how the senator whose style often irked his colleagues is riding that style to top-tier status in the opening weeks of the 2016 GOP presidential campaign.
In the Senate, it’s harmful to look too ambitious, too quick to publicly fight the party’s leadership, too eager for the spotlight, too full of confidence and boisterousness when speaking to an audience. But all of that works — at least for a while — as a presidential candidate.
It always helps when a speaker can begin with good news, and Cruz informed the NRA Convention attendees that he had just come from Fort Hood, where it had just been announced that all of those wounded and killed in the 2009 shooting attack would be awarded the Purple Heart. This led to the political speech equivalent of an easy lay-up, knocking around the Obama administration’s asinine instinct to classify the attack as an incident of “workplace violence” instead of terrorism.
Scott Walker, Rick Santorum, and other candidates are attempting to emulate Cruz’s no podium, no teleprompter, no-notes, earpiece-microphone speaking style he showcased at the 2012 Republican convention. (The speech was nothing special, but Cruz’s ability to deliver it, entirely from memory and naturally while walking back and forth upon the stage, worked.)
When Ted Cruz speaks to an audience like this one, he’s in his natural element, entirely comfortable. Cruz doesn’t scream at his audiences, per se, but he doesn’t always use his inside voice. Every sentence has particular words and phrases that Cruz delivers with a roaring emphasis: “The only way we will TURN THIS COUNTRY AROUND is if we GET MILLIONS OF CONSERVATIVES to STAND UP and say WE WILL TURN BACK to FREEDOM and the CONSTITUTION.” It’s a performance, inclining from the stage whisper to the reverberating boom and descending back again. “If Hillary Clinton and the liberals want to try to take away our Constitution, to them I say, COME AND TAKE IT!” Then, once the applause subsides, softly, “These are our values, this is who we are.”
To rock-ribbed conservatives eager for red meat, Ted Cruz’s role in the government shutdown and other high-stakes fights that didn’t turn out so well for Republicans is a strength, not a weakness. His message going forth is going to be, hey, I fought when no one else was willing to do it. “Everyone opposes Obamacare, the question is when have you stood up and fought Obamacare?” Cruz asked. “Every candidate is going to say they oppose amnesty. Great! When have you stood up and fought to stop the president’s illegal and unconstitutional executive?”
Ted Cruz left the stage to whistles and a standing ovation. He may win the nomination or fall short, but it’s certain that the Texas senator is going to relish his big role in the spotlight for a long time.
Jim is plugged in. Take what he says seriously.
Cruz is definitely the man of the moment
A backhanded compliment, Mr. Geraghty?
To rock-ribbed conservatives eager for red meat, Ted Cruz’s role in the government shutdown and other high-stakes fights that didn’t turn out so well for Republicans is a strength, not a weakness.
Links in with your posted article about Mercer—
“Bradley A. Smith, a campaign finance expert who was a Republican appointee on the Federal Election Commission. Mr. Mercer’s financial support for Mr. Cruz “sends the message to other donors that Cruz is a serious guy,” Mr. Smith said, “and that brings in other donors.”
Thought so too. This is a snarky article-basically trying to push the Cruz-has-a-big-ego theme -same BS the MSM and Gope are trying to attack Cruz with.
And a side note: When are they going to stop using the term "red meat"-Ughhhhhh I despise that term.
It belongs in a food column if you're talking about steaks or burgers, not when discussing politics.
I don't recall it ever being used to refer to democrats. Make it stop.
In real life the Republicans were net gainers from these things; at least they won elections. Why is NR buying into the McConnell/Boehner/MSM fantasy claim that Republicans were blamed and suffered from it all? That kind of hair shirt is invigorating.
Cruz fought when others ran.
He deserves every big moment he gets...and then some.
I’m glad I’m not the only one to see it, pj.
Have you noticed there were never any polls published as to who voted and why in the midterms? Dems in my own family have blurted out to me they crossed over in disgust without me even bringing it up. The least-analyzed election, EVER.
Gee, I wonder why...
the media is not going to be able to deal with Cruz in its accustomed mannerif he doesn’t apologize or “explain.”
the media was heavily invested in that narrative and now they can’t seem to let it go, even after it didn’t play out as promised.
They hate being dependent on voters whose values are so different from their own. They are like the old Cardinal who vaguely remembers the eager young curate he once was, and half regrets he is not that man any more. But only half, for otherwise he would not be wearing red.
Here’s the video of his speech. It’s 20 minutes.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zZ1iS9S6nRc
Thanks VinL for the earlier post.
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/3277979/posts
Doubt he’s going to. Unlike Rino’s, he’s not looking to be liked by the media, but I believe he intends to command their respect based on the strength of his arguments.
Above, some have said this article was a “back-handed” compliment. But, this piece concedes that (1) the NRA placed him last- so as to keep the crowd (Walker and Rubio spoke previously); (2) other candidates are copying his speaking style; (3) that Cruz is - top tier, polished, dynamic, crowd pleasing, and that he would be around for a long time.
That’s respect— from a Rino publication.
No worries. -:)
“Ted Cruz’s role in the government shutdown and other high-stakes fights that didn’t turn out so well for Republicans is a strength, not a weakness.”
Yes, the ‘I come not to throw mud at Ted Cruz, I come to bury him’ comment.
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