Debunking the Three Most Powerful Myths About Ted Cruz

The Blaze ^ | Jan. 4, 2016 | Justin Haskins

[Isara]

Few will argue with the claim the Republican Party's 2016 presidential nomination process has been a wild ride.

Candidates Carly Fiorina, Ben Carson, and former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush have all made strong pushes in the polls at one time or another, but only business tycoon Donald Trump has managed to sustain his base of support (and even add significantly to it). According to Real Clear Politics, Trump has been king of the GOP mountain since the end of July.

Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) has stood somewhat quietly in the background throughout all of the election chaos. Like his career in the U.S. Senate, Cruz has consistently been nothing other than himself, sometimes to his own detriment. Cruz isn't the most charismatic, controversial, or bombastic candidate in the field, but he may very well be the most conservative, and it's hard to argue he isn't the most loyal to the conservatives who have stood by him from the very beginning of the race.

Cruz, who was once thought to be one of the two or three frontrunners, has struggled at times to win supporters in a crowded field of challengers. In July, Cruz was only polling at 4 percent in many national polls. Today, Cruz has firmly moved into second place behind Trump, with one recent Quinnipiac poll showing Cruz standing strong with 24 percent of the GOP vote, compared to Trump's 28 percent. Other than a three-week period in November-when Carson made significant gains-no other candidate has been this close to challenging Trump since his rise in July.

Unlike Bush, Fiorina, and Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.), Cruz has never wavered on any important conservative position, and Cruz has been in the national spotlight much longer than Carson. Cruz is often named as Trump supporters' "second choice," and his longstanding commitment to conservative principles makes him a dangerous opponent for Trump, who has repeatedly said how much he likes and respects Cruz.

With higher poll numbers, however, come more personal attacks. Below you'll find three of the most damaging-some of which have been leveled by other conservatives-myths about Cruz, along with the facts that show why they're completely untrue.

1. Ted Cruz Isn't a Natural Born Citizen

There are only three constitutional qualifications for becoming president. A person must be at least age 35, have been a resident of the United States for at least 14 years, and the candidate must be a "natural born Citizen." Because Cruz' father was not a U.S. citizen at the time of Cruz' birth and because Cruz was born in Canada, some-including famous conservative pundit Ann Coulter-have argued Cruz does not qualify as a "natural born Citizen."

The evidence, however, is strongly opposed to that claim. Contrary to the claims of Cruz' critics, a natural born citizen is simply someone who is a citizen at birth, a designation determined by federal law (the Constitution does not specifically law out who is a "natural born Citizen").

According to U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, a person born outside the United States with one U.S. citizen parent after Oct. 10, 1952, and before Nov. 14, 1986, is a natural born citizen so long as the parents are married at the time of birth and the U.S. citizen parent resided in the United States for at least 10 years prior to the birth, five of which must be after that person's 14th birthday. There are other considerations as well, but none of which would alter Cruz' status. Because Cruz fits the description above, he was a citizen at birth according to U.S. law.

Some have suggested that simply being a citizen at birth is not the same as being a natural born Citizen, but as Neal Katyal and Paul Clement argue for the Harvard Law Review Forum, such an argument is obviously false. British common law, which they argue was the basis upon which the "natural born Citizen" provision was made, always allowed for individuals born outside of the British Empire to British citizens to automatically receive a "natural born" status.

Further, the Naturalization Act of 1790, which was written and passed by many of the same Founding Fathers who wrote and voted on the Constitution, stated, "[T]he children of citizens of the United States, that may be born beyond sea, or out of the limits of the United States, shall be considered as natural born citizens: Provided, That the right of citizenship shall not descend to persons whose fathers have never been resident in the United States. ..."

If the Founders didn't intend for natural born citizens to be born outside of the United States to only one U.S. citizen, why did the Naturalization Act of 1790 provide for just that?

2. Ted Cruz is Beholden to Big Business Because His Wife Works for Goldman Sachs

Heidi Cruz is indeed a managing director at financial giant Goldman Sachs's Houston office, although she's temporarily taking an unpaid leave of absence while her husband runs for president. While you could certainly make the argument this connects Cruz closely to Wall Street, the evidence overwhelming proves Cruz is willing to stand up to multi-billion dollar corporations when his principles are at stake. Cruz has repeatedly said he would "absolutely not" support another bailout of Wall Street financial institutions, including at the Fox Business Channel GOP debate in November.

Even if you want to argue Cruz is lying and that he is nothing more than a stooge of Wall Street billionaires, you're going to have to stay home this election season since virtually every single candidate with a chance of winning has a close connection to billionaire corporations.

Carson has served on the board of directors for numerous corporations, including Costco and Kellogg. Fiorina is the former CEO of Hewlett Packard. Bush has previously worked for Lehman Brothers and Barclays. And let's not forget about Trump, one of the world's most successful and well-known businessmen who has routinely talked about his close connections on Wall Street.

Unless you're voting for Bernie Sanders, a socialist, or perhaps Rubio, you can't argue Cruz' Wall Street connection is going to make him a unprincipled, big-business president.

3. Ted Cruz Can't Beat Hillary Clinton

Many have argued, myself included, Cruz cannot beat the likely Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton in a head-to-head race. Even if that's true, a good argument could be made that conservatives should vote for the best candidate regardless, since voting for "compromise" candidates for two elections in a row has yet to pay off.

However, recent data show Cruz is actually doing quite well against Clinton in head-to-head polling and that he's more likely to win than Trump is.

In a survey by CNN and ORC, taken on December 17-21, Cruz is beating Clinton by 2 percentage points (48 percent to 46 percent), while Trump is losing by 2 percentage points in the same poll. A Quinnipiac poll taken around the same time shows Cruz is tied with Clinton while Trump is down by 7 percentage points. A third December poll, this time by Fox News, shows Trump down by 11 and Cruz again in a tie.

With most polls showing Cruz ahead of Trump in Iowa just weeks before the caucuses begin, the election is only going to get nastier. Let's make sure voters are making their decision based on the facts, not unsubstantiated rumors.

[Isara]

"With most polls showing Cruz ahead of Trump in Iowa just weeks before the caucuses begin, the election is only going to get nastier. Let's make sure voters are making their decision based on the facts, not unsubstantiated rumors."

[Isara]

Presidential Candidates Comparison (Bush vs. Carson vs. Cruz vs. Rubio vs. Trump)

Please click on the pictures at the top of the columns for more details on the ratings of the candidates.

Budget, Spending & Debt
Civil Liberties
Education
Energy & Environment
Foreign Policy & Defense
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Health Care & Entitlements
Immigration
Moral Issues
Second Amendment
Taxes, Economy & Trade

More at Conservative Review: https://www.conservativereview.com/2016-presidential-candidates

[knarf]

bump

[Responsibility2nd]

Worse than these; Ted is a Dominionist. (Gasp!)

Yeah. Him and Glenn Beck.

[Kenny]

"With most polls showing Cruz ahead of Trump in Iowa just weeks before the caucuses begin, the election is only going to get nastier. Let's make sure voters are making their decision based on the facts, not unsubstantiated rumors."

It's not a "fact" that Cruz is not beholden to Goldman Sachs.

[elhombrelibre]

Go Cruz!

[St_Thomas_Aquinas]

Good post.

[elhombrelibre]

This is a great chart. Cruz is clearly the best when you consider all the important conservative issues.

[brothers4thID]

I’d like to add:

Cruz’s initial vote for cloture onTPA did not enable the latter passage of TPA
Cruz’s initial vote for cloture on TPA does not equal support for TPP
Cruz’s amendment battle—in committee— on Gang of 8 does not mean he supported legalization OR amnesty.

[brothers4thID]

Prove that he is.

[St_Thomas_Aquinas]

It's not a "fact" that Cruz is not beholden to Goldman Sachs.

Even if you want to argue Cruz is lying and that he is nothing more than a stooge of Wall Street billionaires, you're going to have to stay home this election season since virtually every single candidate with a chance of winning has a close connection to billionaire corporations...

And let's not forget about Trump, one of the world's most successful and well-known businessmen who has routinely talked about his close connections on Wall Street.

[skeeter]

Of the three or four charges I've heard leveled against Cruz here are subjective in nature. All are repeated by those who've already expressed their support for another candidate.

I've heard rational explanations for every one - from Cruz himself and from others who's word I trust. Some, like the ones concerning his wife and father, are without basis and not worth the time to respond. Several of the others I know are totally bogus.

But if what you mean is there are those here who are predisposed to never accept any facts or explanation offered in Cruz's defense then sadly you are right.

[Kenny]

It’s not my point to prove that Cruz is beholden to Goldman, it’s just not a “fact” as the author says that he isn’t. If an article is going to clear up myths and only publish facts, they should steer clear of opinion.

[reegs]

The support for Trump on this site surprises me. Trust me, I will vote for Trump over Hillary in the general if it comes down to that, but the same folks who rejected Romney because of his liberal leanings 4 years ago are embracing Trump who has a much longer track record of actually supporting and praising Democrats!

Ted Cruz is the conservative candidate we’ve been waiting for and he’s getting overlooked because of Trump’s populist bloviating.

[Georgia Girl 2]

Ted Cruz is the fourth largest recipient of wall street money of all the candidates.

[Arthur Wildfire! March]

‘3. Ted Cruz Can’t Beat Hillary Clinton’

I don’t flat-out say that Trump can’t beat Hillary. My main concern right now is that Trump might knock her out before the primary’s even over!

It’s no question — Trump can beat Hillary.

But it goes beyond that. By destroying the Clinton Crime Family, Trump vindicates conservatives. Establishment types fear the Clintons. GW Bush even helped Bill Clinton racketeer in Haiti. [I doubt he realized how that would turn out, but Trump knows better.]

Cruz is not willing to confront Hillary OR Islam the way Trump is.

[JayGalt]

OMG still with this misleading & dishonest chart, where is the “trash can, crumpled & restated” graphic when you need it?
Free Republic is for exchange of ideas not for beating people over the head with the same big lies over & over hoping you can convince someone. That is fascist and belongs on a Liberal blog somewhere it will be appreciated.

[RinaseaofDs]

1. Ted Cruz is for H1-Bs, and other programs.
2. Ted Cruz may be partially responsible for McDaniel not getting elected in MS.
3. Ted Cruz’s wife works for GS, and I’m afraid that’s un sat.

[Duchess47]

Kind of hard to debunk the fact that Cruz was born in Canada, his father was a Cuban citizen and Cruz was a Canadian citizen until last year. I mean, facts are facts.

[brothers4thID]

1. Ted Cruz’s hated amendment on H1B’s has been negated by his new stance on the issue. It seems Sessions has gotten through to him.
2. Cruz “may be” partially responsible... Yeah that weak hand wringing will need supporting evidence.
3. If Heidi Cruz’s employment with GS is an issue for you, please vote for Rubio or Sanders. After all, Trump is the candidate who said that GS would be the best group to trust with the bank bail-out funds.