Posted on 02/07/2016 1:20:52 PM PST by GodGunsGuts
HOUSTON, TX (KTRK) -- Long before he was the Senator from Texas or Republican presidential candidate Ted Cruz, he was a hometown boy carving a path in life. Those who were there for the journey spoke to Eyewitness News.
Much has been made about Cruz having been born in Canada. Four years later, he and his family moved to Houston and like many young boys, Ted Cruz could be mischievous and playful. At Clay Road Baptist Church, his first church home in Houston, he was sometimes a prankster.
"He would get down and rummage around underneath the seats. In fact I heard he re-arranged women's shoes so they got the wrong shoes one time but I don't know if that was the gospel truth," said Billye Joyce Stanley with a laugh.
Stanley, 83, remembers Cruz and his parents from when they were members at the church. She taught him in Bible school and then at camp when he was older. Cruz, an only child, was nicknamed "Felito" or "Little Raphael" after his father, Raphael Cruz.
At the time, the family's home was in the Champions area of Northwest Harris County. They would make the 12-mile drive to the church.
"He was very smart," added Stanley. "I'm very proud of him. You know, it's humbling to think we taught him as a child."
The 45-year-old husband to Heidi Cruz and father of two girls calls Houston home which sometimes surprises people. He often keeps a low profile, by design, says conservative talk show host and friend of 20 years, Michael Berry.
"He's not a socialite. He's not a guy who's thrilled about seeing and being seen. That's not who he is," explained Berry. "I don't think a lot of Houstonians know...this is the local guy because for so much of his professional career he was the Solicitor General for the State of Texas. He went off to school but there are a lot of us who know him personally and have for a long time."
Cruz attended a private, Christian school in Katy and then transferred to Second Baptist School his junior year in high school.
"He was an ideal student. I couldn't ask for more," said Elsa Jean Looser, his former Advanced Placement English teacher and college preparation counselor. She says Cruz was driven and self-directed.
"You know, I turned to my husband this morning and said, 'you know, I've never had a student who's won the Iowa Caucus.' That was a whole new thing," Looser said with a smile.
The retired teacher showed Eyewitness News the classroom where she taught Cruz and the seat in the back corner where he sat. That was 28 years ago. The two still keep in touch.
Last week, a video from his high school days surfaced. He jokes about 'world domination.'
His classmates didn't think a run for president was that ludicrous. One wrote about Cruz "as president" in his junior yearbook.
"None of this surprise me," Looser said.
During his time at Second Baptist, he was a star debater, active in the drama club and on the speech team. Looser helped him prepare his application for Princeton and says his faith has always been front and center.
"He gets criticized for supposedly being an evangelical but this is nothing new for him," Looser said. She plans to "just keep watching" especially heading into the New Hampshire Primary.
"It's exciting," he added.
Trump: highest negatives in the history of polling for negatives.
http://www.gallup.com/opinion/polling-matters/188936/trump-negative-image.aspx
And let’s not forget the RCP average in a head to head of Trump vs. Clinton...Trump loses, right out of the gate.
RCP Average Clinton +4.0
No one is perfect. God has the whole world in Hands.
Or how about the RCP average in a head to head of Trump vs. Sanders...Trump loses even bigger, right out of the gate!
RCP Average Sanders +7.7
We’ll see how those negatives play out in NH.
Lying on a caucus night sure isn’t a positive.
Ted will get wiped out by either Hillary or Sanders. especially after Iowa caucus night. It won’t even be close.
Cruz was for open borders, he is pushing more H1B visas, he was for Obamatrade and his campaign spread rumors about the only black candidate in Iowa. Cruz is a lying weasel.
The good news is the Canadian has dropped to 4th in NH. LOL!
Your words are so true but like Cruz you avoided answering the question.
Apparent answer.
Teach needs to learn the real name of both papa and son.
It is Rafael, not Raphael.
Cruz beats Hillary right out of the gate on the head to head RCP average, and Ted has a 97%-100% conservative/pro-libery VOTING RECORD straight out of the gate as well.
And what is Donald Trump’s record: oh, that’s right, you just have to take his word for his recent change of heart from Left to Right.
Cruz will not beat Hillary or Sanders. He’s not liked well enough to get any independent or crossover votes. Crossover votes are needed, you need to remember that way over 50% of the voting public is dependent on the government in one way or another. They will vote their pocketbook. There are not enough pure “principled” conservatives votes to win the election for the republicans if Cruz is the nominee.
got YOU figured out, for sure.
You outed yourself -
LOL
We shall see. But if what you say is true, the country is lost. I am deliberately holding off on this conclusion pending the outcome of the upcoming election.
Having said that, let’s not forget, that Ted Cruz’s strategy is to revive the Reagan Coalituon: reenergize the evangelical vote, secure a big chunk of the liberty vote, appeal to the Reagan Democrats, national security conservatives, etc... thus bypassing the need to move to the mushy middle.
The Cruz campaign says the data shows those voters are out there in sufficient numbers to pull off a win, thus affording our nation one last chance to pull ourselves from the socialist abyss threatening to swallow the American exception for good.
Ah hahahahaha ROTFLMAO
Hide and watch.
Hillary is liked?
I was wondering what he strategy was. Thank-you for clarifying it. I hope it works!
>>-Having said that, let’s not forget, that Ted Cruz’s strategy is to revive the Reagan Coalituon: reenergize the evangelical vote, secure a big chunk of the liberty vote, appeal to the Reagan Democrats, national security conservatives, etc... thus bypassing the need to move to the mushy middle.
The Cruz campaign says the data shows those voters are out there in sufficient numbers to pull off a win, thus affording our nation one last chance to pull ourselves from the socialist abyss threatening to swallow the American exception for good.>>
That’s absolute conjecture. Did you happen to stay in a Holiday Inn Express last night?
Whether he's elected or not, one day you will wake up and realize what a goofy sucker you've been.
Ethanol is just wrong....
even if stopping it helps oil, thats not proof Cruz works for oil...
Your premise is flawed.
Proving just because you comment on Free republic, and use big words you are smart.
America can ONLY be set right By standing on principals and standing for the constitution.
send Money to Ted Cruz..do it now!
or say goodbye to America and your freedom.
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