Free Republic

Ted Cruz is raising money for his presidential campaign at a significantly faster rate than Mitt Romney did four years ago, eclipsing the early total raised by the former Massachusetts governor who went on to win the Republican nomination in 2012. The conservative Texas senator, who is seeking to unite the Republicans’ tea party wing behind his White House run, raised $4.3 million during the final days of March – his first full week after declaring as a candidate for president. Cruz proved particularly popular with small donors, raising more in his first week from contributors giving $200 or less...

The $4 million that Sen. Ted Cruz collected in the first eight days of his presidential bid came from 46,871 donors in all 50 states, according to his campaign’s first Federal Election Commission filing. More than a third of that — about $1.5 million — came from donors who gave at least $2,700, the maximum allowed per election per person. Of that, more than $400,000 came from 38 couples who gave $2,700 each for the primary, and another $2,700 each for the general election, for a total of $10,800. General election funds can’t be touched unless Cruz wins the nomination....

Sen. Ted Cruz’s, R-Texas, state director has left his post to run a political action committee that supports Cruz, “Make DC Listen.” John Drogin embraced one of Cruz’s signature stump speech lines, “Make DC listen,” in naming the PAC, which will support Cruz’s presidential campaign as well as other conservative non-presidential candidates. Drogin was Cruz’s campaign manager in 2012 when the little-known Cruz won a come-from-behind race to beat then-Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst for the Senate. Drogin was earlier a press aide to Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas. “Americans are worried about the federal government’s crippling effect on jobs and opportunity,”...

Ted Cruz hauled in more than $4 million during his first nine days as a formal presidential candidate—with help from a handful of Rick Perry's top donors. Five members of Perry's leadership PAC advisory board contributed to Cruz's presidential campaign in late March, a National Journal review of Federal Election Commission records found. San Antonio auto dealer Red McCombs, Austin oil executive Ben "Bud" Brigham, Houston chemical company executive Steven P. Mach, retired Houston technology executive Holloway Frost, and Houston Republican Kathaleen Wall each wrote four-figure checks to Cruz's campaign in late March. Those five donors were also among the...

In every election we get the “Which candidate would you rather have a beer with?” question. It’s a shorthand for testing how genuine, fun and likable a candidate may be. With the exception of Richard Nixon in 1968, the nicer guy actually does finish first in most elections. Politics after all is the marriage of personality and policy, so it’s worth looking at candidates from a non-ideological point of view, which by the way is how a lot of casual voters who turn out only in presidential races make up their minds. We will start with an easy one. David...

No matter how much their adversaries have tried to pin them as the "party of no," the GOP is far and away the most dynamic of the two major American political parties today. As evidence of this, just look at how the 2016 primary campaigns are shaping up on either side of the ideological divide. Conservative voters will get to choose from the youngest and most philosophically diverse group of GOP candidates I’ve seen in my lifetime, while the left will get to choose—wait, there is no choice. Yes, that’s right: Unless something drastically changes, the very same liberals who...

You probably guessed it...Ted Cruz! At least if we're going solely by the measuring stick of fund raising. Yes Cruz announced his candidacy not much earlier than Paul did, but still he's managed an astounding $31 million in a single week! Which has really turned a lot of heads. Including a good number of people in more traditionally liberal news outlets... (VIDEO-AT-LINK)Notice how they're trying to pin so much of this on the citizens united case? As though that one supreme court decision has allowed for the rise of a principled conservative with real values and beliefs to occur. Only...

Senator Ted Cruz’s announcement he’s running for president during a March 23 speech at Virginia’s Liberty University made him the first candidate to declare his candidacy official in the 2016 cycle. Here are five things to know about Cruz and his presidential run: 1. He wanted to be the first candidate to announce because he thought it would bring him attention. Being first out of the gate, his campaign hopes, will catch the eyes of both high-engagement Republican primary voters and the media—and, in the process, might slow or stop Governor Scott Walker’s rapid rise. From The New York Times:...

Since, the site does not allow posting on FR, the curious among you might want to see which country in your state is most Republican by Clicking this link: The Most Republican County in Each State

Yesterday Ed shared the news that the community of political experts was rather gobsmacked to find out that PACs associated with Texas Senator Ted Cruz had brought in a “record haul” in no time flat following his campaign announcement. While it would be lovely to pretend that money in politics doesn’t mean all that much and what really counts is grassroots support and a solid message, that’s simply not true. Does anyone really think Mitt Romney would have survived the 2012 fight without the mountains of cash behind him, both internally and through associated PACs? That’s a doubtful proposition at...

According to a Wednesday story in Bloomberg, the Ted Cruz for President Campaign has let it be known that a group of super PACs associated with the campaign expects to have $31 million in the bank by Friday. This feat is impressive considering that the Cruz campaign is not even two weeks old, and the super PACs in question were formed just this week. In the political fundraising game, this is what is called shock and awe. Former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush is likely to be the champion fund raiser on the Republican side. But the news of Cruz’s feat,...

Link only due to copyright issues: http://www.bloomberg.com/politics/articles/2015-04-08/exclusive-new-ted-cruz-super-pacs-take-in-record-haul

CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa — Like many Iowa Republicans, bus driver Bill Jodeit yearns for another Ronald Reagan, a leader to unite the party’s many factions, deliver victory and restore America’s vigor and place in the world. And he may have found what he’s looking for in Ted Cruz. “What he represents, and what Reagan represented, was the shining city on the hill, the best of America. Reagan bombed Libya — he scared our enemies. Now we’ve got a president that’s scared to scare our enemies,” said Jodeit, 49. In week two of the Cruz presidential campaign, the 44-year-old Texas senator...

MANCHESTER, Ga. — Though presidential politicians have long ignored Georgia, the towns and villages in this primarily rural state celebrate their historic connection with Washington power. White House Parkway cuts through this area. The sign in front of the police station in Warm Springs, population 413, touts a century-old tie to Franklin Delano Roosevelt, and locals quickly point out that former President Jimmy Carter lives within an hour’s drive. And yet it’s been decades since this place was relevant in any presidential contest: Aside from Carter, the last candidate anyone remembers campaigning here was John F. Kennedy. It’s the Manchester...

(VIDEO-AT-LINK)DES MOINES, Iowa — The first person to declare they are running for president will be in the metro Thursday night. Republican Senator Ted Cruz is in Iowa meeting with voters just one week after he announced his candidacy for president. Cruz made his first public appearance in the state that holds the first in the nation caucuses Wednesday in Sioux City. Cruz told the crowd at Morningside College that in order to have a bright future, the country has to look to the principles of the past. He talked about restoring free enterprise, tax reform, and regulatory reform. To...

These events from the first quarter could change the entire race.Ascertaining the magnitude of any political development can be a head-spinning task. A candidate surges in a poll? Bah. Horse-race numbers donÂ’t matter this early. A scandal erupts in Washington? Sigh. Real people in Dubuque, Iowa, arenÂ’t paying attention. Or they donÂ’t care. During the first three months of the year, there have been countless events in the preliminary stage of the 2016 race for the White House. Some gobble up a few hours of cable television news and then evaporate; others fester for days or weeks, propelled by unanswered...

HOUSTON (KTRK) -- On the seventh floor of a Greenway Plaza high rise, Senator Ted Cruz's campaign operation is in full swing. Sweet, modern open space complete with a playroom for children. Cruz, and his wife Heidi, have two young daughters. His campaign manager has a one-year-old. The national headquarters is divided into several sections. They include a large space for data collection, an area for the national press team, a policy area, administration, and in the back around the corner is an area reserved for finance. Both Cruz and his wife also have offices. Heidi, who works for Goldman...

Link only due to copyright issues: http://www.newsmax.com/Newsfront/ted-cruz-email-push-2016/2015/03/31/id/635475/

Martina White made history Tuesday night by winning a special election for a Pennsylvania House seat — the first time a Republican won an open General Assembly seat in Philadelphia in 25 years. White, 26, became the 120th Republican in the House, part of the largest GOP majority in the state since 1958 and including a state Senate that increased its majority in historic numbers in 2014. Down-ballot races matter. These elected officials are the most attuned politicians with whom average people ever interact; they focus on voters' core values, and are far removed from the harsher rhetoric of national...

Ordinarily the jockeying for the White House begins slowly, with whispered conversations and closed-door meetings. The potential candidates circle each other quietly and warily. The early commitments come slowly, and all parties know they are tentative, and mostly secret. That is how it always has been. That is how most political professionals thought it would be this time. But in a campaign that will likely challenge every expectation, expectation has been the first casualty. Last week’s presidential-candidacy announcement by first-term Republican Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas was the first public blast in what will now be a 19-month campaign. But...