Cruz says support for presidential bid ‘breathtaking’

The Hill ^ | March 07, 2015, 02:53 pm | Jonathan Easley

[SoConPubbie]

DES MOINES, Iowa -- Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) told a gaggle of reporters in Iowa on Saturday the response from conservatives to his potential presidential candidacy has been overwhelming.

 

“I’ve been incredibly encouraged by the support I’ve seen,” Cruz said in a media availability just outside of the Iowa Ag Summit in Des Moines. “The support from the grassroots, frankly has been breathtaking, and the financial support we’ve received from Texas and all across the country. So it’s something I’m looking at closely, and I think that decision will be made shortly.”

Cruz is in Iowa with a handful of other potential GOP candidates to address business-minded conservatives at the Iowa Ag Summit. He got a cool response from room full of hundreds of business-minded rural conservatives for his opposition to renewable fuel standards (RFS), which he has described as corporate welfare.

 

“While I recognize that this is a gathering of a lot of folks where the answer you’d like to hear is, ‘I’m for the RFS,’ ” Cruz said, provoking ironic applause from a few in the crowd. 

 

“That’d be the easy thing to do,” Cruz continued. “But I’ll tell you, people are pretty fed up by the politicians who go around telling one group one thing and another group another thing, and then they go to Washington and don’t do anything they said they’re going to do.”

 

Cruz’s attacks against Washington turned the crowd back in his favor.

 

In an interview with reporters after his address, Cruz stood his ground, arguing that the ethanol and biofuel industries are doing just fine on their own.

 

“I think ethanol and biofuel can continue to prosper and grow, but I don’t think it needs a government mandate to continue to grow the ethanol market,” he said. “Washington shouldn’t be picking winners and losers.”

 

The fuel standards are wildly popular in Iowa because they boost the corn industry, one of the cornerstones of the Iowa economy.

 

Rep. Steve King (R-Iowa), who followed Cruz on stage, called the fuel standards “a holy grail” and vowed, “I will defend it.”

 

Cruz will meet with supporters later on Saturday at the Iowa Deer Classic Trade Show in Des Moines, as he gauges his support ahead of a potential presidential run.

[SoConPubbie]

	"If we must have an enemy at the head of Government, let it be one whom we can oppose, and for whom we are not responsible, who will not involve our party in the disgrace of his foolish and bad measures." - Alexander Hamilton "We don't intend to turn the Republican Party over to the traitors in the battle just ended. We will have no more of those candidates who are pledged to the same goals as our opposition and who seek our support. Turning the Party over to the so-called moderates wouldn’t make any sense at all." -- President Ronald Reagan "A thing moderately good is not so good as it ought to be. Moderation in temper is always a virtue; but moderation in principle is always a vice." - Thomas Paine 1792 "It does not take a majority to prevail, but rather an irate, tireless minority, keen on setting brushfires of freedom in the minds of men." - Samuel Adams "If ye love wealth better than liberty, the tranquility of servitude better than the animating contest of freedom, go home from us in peace. We ask not your counsels or your arms. Crouch down and lick the hands which feed you. May your chains set lightly upon you, and may posterity forget that you were our countrymen." - Samuel Adams

[SoConPubbie]

Ted Cruz Ping!

If you want on/off this ping list, please let me know.

Please beware, this is a high-volume ping list!

CRUZ or LOSE!

CRUZ or LOSE!

[TigerClaws]

The man has balls. He’s willing to debate the real issues and take the argument to the American people.

I’m sick of RINOs and capitulating politicians. It’s all about a motivated base. Conservatives CAN win if given a real candidate.

[Olog-hai]

What with his being the most anti-Obama, it’s obvious where the support is coming from. Not that Boner or McCornball are taking note; they want to fundamentally transform everything before . . .

[Lakeshark]

Sounds like he's running, let's hope he can pull this off.

Go Ted!!!

[EvilCapitalist]

It’s a breath of fresh air that a politician is willing to tell the truth. Even if some people don’t like it. Now if he will tell we the people that the “Great Society” is unsustainable, I’ll be really impressed.

[marron]

Its Cruz or Cruz. Accept no substitutes.

[Steelfish]

He needs to declare soon before Jeb siphons off the cash machine.

[Gator113]

Cruz all the way to the White House.....

[Hardens Hollow]

Excellent!

[Hardens Hollow]

I hope!

[Arthur McGowan]

I want Ted Cruz to run against the Democrat party as the party that put a Muslim terrorist Marxist illegal alien in the White House. This should be the theme of his campain no matter who the Democrat nominee is.

I knew Mitt Romney was a wet firecracker the moment he started saying “the President is a nice guy.” How can an illegal alien Muslim Marxist terrorist who is for chopping babies to pieces be a “nice guy”?

[Hostage]

Ted, you’re it. There is no other. Choose Walker as your running mate or help groom him for 2024 when he will be only 56 years old. Then we can get a nice 16 years of having Conservatives in the White House.

[Steve_Seattle]

MSM verdict on outspoken Democrats: "courageous"; "speaks truth to power"; "articulate"; "smart"; etc.

MSM verdict on outspoken Republicans (e.g., Cruz): "divisive"; "controversial"; "disliked"; "firebrand"; "bomb-thrower"; etc.

[Nuc 1.1]

Cruz to Victory!

[vekzen]

Imagine inauguration day 2017. Cruz/Walker victorious. The Muslim/Marxist finished and repudiated, having to shake hands with his successors.

[timestax]

[Still Thinking]

Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) told a gaggle of reporters in Iowa on Saturday the response from conservatives to his potential presidential candidacy has been overwhelming.

So a group of reporters is a "gaggle"? I always thought it was a "coven".

[Still Thinking]

Run, Ted, run!

[krunkygirl]

Ditto, ditto and ditto.