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Posted on 06/18/2015 4:01:57 PM PDT by SoConPubbie
Of the three presidential candidates who spoke at the Faith and Freedom Coalition’s Road to Majority Conference in Washington, D.C., Thursday, there was no question whom the audience was waiting for.
Texas Sen. Ted Cruz walked on and offstage to raucous applause. The 300 or so lunching faithful erupted into cheers even before his introduction was complete.
The first-term senator returned the favor, telling this slice of the Republican Party what they wanted to hear — and in the process, distinguished his tone from that of the other GOP hopefuls who appeared with him.
“We could talk about jobs and the economy,” Cruz said, “but I want to talk about an issue that’s going to be front and center in 2016. And that is religious liberty.”
He began his speech with a moment of silence for the victims of Wednesday night’s shooting at a historically black church in Charleston, S.C., before telling the crowd Thursday was “a new morning.”
Of all the GOP hopefuls, Cruz used the most religious rhetoric and took the most shots at President Barack Obama, underscoring his appeal with the evangelical wing of the Republican Party.
The audience heard two other presidential hopefuls before Cruz came on, but with each candidate, the tone grew increasingly more religious and socially conservative. The size of the standing ovations grew progressively larger, too.
Aside from his religiously inspired refrain “If I am blessed with the opportunity to be president of the United States …” Florida Sen. Marco Rubio’s message wasn’t as on-point to the faithful as Cruz’s was. Rubio made the economy his central message, invoking his immigrant parents and the better lives they made for themselves through hard work in America.
His father, he told the audience, “worked banquets like this,” while his mother “was a maid at a hotel like this.” His was an up-from-the-bootstraps narrative, but he also delivered a message about an economic overhaul, telling the crowd they had to make the economy work for the hotel staff who would “pick up for us after we leave here.”
Some of his drier economic declarations — “We will save Social Security and Medicare!” — went over flat. He did better taking a shot at liberal-arts majors who earn more money and respect than vocational workers.
Even if the audience wasn’t stirred by his economic message, multiple members of the crowd credited him for the way he handled two protesters who barged into the room to challenge his position on immigration.
Rubio picked up right where he left off, using the interruption to highlight what he called America’s exceptional tolerance for freedom of speech.
The last quarter of Rubio’s address got at what the crowd was there for. “The government is not meant to replace moms and dads,” he said, “It is meant to empower them.”
Whereas Rubio took a while to launch into what he called the “erosion of our culture and values,” Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul wasted no time invoking the “faith” in Faith and Freedom.
He stepped around the side of the podium when he first spoke, saying, “Our rights come naturally from God,” and attributed child poverty to kids not having married parents. The importance of two-parent families was a punchline all of Thursday’s speakers relied on.
“The reason I’m running for president is not to gain power,” Paul said. It’s to “take power away from government and give it back to the people.” He drew applause for saying that his fellow lawmakers’ time in Washington should be limited, but ironically, he didn’t mention his fight back in Kentucky to appear on the ballot for both Senate and president.
As he’s done elsewhere, Paul spoke about expanding the party’s tent, saying he’d visited Howard University and Ferguson, Mo., in the past year to determine “what parts of our message might apply to be those who haven’t been listening to it.”
As attendees prepared to board buses headed for “Lobby Day” at the Capitol, it was clear they got what they came for in Cruz, but the other two senators had made an impression. “It seemed like Ted Cruz was the rock star,” said Karen Furlong, who attended the conference from Philadelphia. “But I think I was most impressed by Marco Rubio.”
“All three candidates have their own message,” Colorado State Rep. Gordon Klingenschmitt said. But, he added, “They all seemed to get it when it comes to religious freedom.”
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Ted Cruz Ping! 
A man who doesn’t know his blessings come from God is not a man.
Wait one minute now! How could Conservatives POSSIBLY applaud that NWO loving, RINO, Sellout Cruz? I am so confused /sarc
They sold out everyone in the USA.
We look upon these days as the days before the invasion of Rome.
Cruz wanted his H -1 Visa and Ryan massive amnesty for there billionaire owners at Goldman Sachs , Austin Silicon valley ,and Las Vegas .
The Gop is officially dead as of today.
Obama and Soros owns them too !
Can’t you come up with anything more clever?
How is Rand doing?
The gop will be dead in 10 years .
This treaty is all Really about massive amnesty and H1 visas by cheap foreigners who will flood this country like they have swept into England and France and Germany after the EU was created.
And You Helped destroy your own country.
Congrats!
Say what you will but the only one who got it right in regards to today’s shooting in S.C. was Rand Paul, who actually mentioned salvation and where it comes from. And, I don’t see his name as one supporting the dreadful TTP non-treaty treaty.
How about McCain and Boehner?
Can we for once get off this TPA/TPP stuff for a little while?
By the way, who ARE you going to vote for?
If you don’t want to discuss the sellout
to Obama by the RINOs, then who do you work
for in the White Mosque?
But these three snakes are trying to play the Gop base as fools..
I just called Traitor Marsha Blackburn office.
and the moron on the phone could mot even explain why She stabbed us in the back.
I asked why Marsha peddles herself as some conservative and sells all of out to Obama and Goldman Sachs and the Chamber !
The guy was nasty and i told him to ask Marsha what it's like to sell out her community to Likes of Soros and Obama for her pieces of gold.
The clown shouted then why did the Democrats not vote for it and I said because they are too smart and will gain back the riding the betrayal of Masha and all the phony conservatives who voted to flood the country with cheap labor for billionaires .
She is toast and the guy heft and hung up !
LOL, let me guess...another Paulie?
Y’all have got to get new talking points
Now you’re getting paranoid.
So, you mean Rand took a moment out of his day to say something useful instead of pandering to Sharpton?
He never admits it...I think he is ashamed.
But, I believe it is well known that Diogenesis is a Paulie
You continue to lie about FReepers, Troll.
and you continue to fail to ping them WHEN you lie.
Ok, so if I lie...who do you support?
The US Constitution and expectation of Equal under the Law.
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