Posted on 12/25/2015 1:04:28 PM PST by Isara
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| Republican presidential candidate Ted Cruz speaks at a campaign stop at a Pizza Ranch restaurant in Newton, Iowa November 29, 2015. REUTERS/Mark Kauzlarich |
KNOXVILLE, Tennessee - Four hours before Ted Cruz was expected to arrive at Farragut High School, Tammy Purcell exclaimed cheerily, "I want to make sure I get in there. I want to give him this birthday cupcake," she said, explaining why she was the first person in line to see Cruz. She had come at 6 a.m., wielding a cupcake in one hand and a sign reading "Happy Birthday Ted" in the other as she waited outside in the damp fog that had enveloped the school.
Purcell was just one of many supporters who habitually line up outside the schools and civic centers hours before the doors open in order to get a good seat. And that's not lost on the senator, almost always lingers afterwards to show his appreciation.
Forty minutes after Cruz finished giving his stump speech in the high school auditorium in Knoxville, he was still there working what remained of the crowd. "We got two minutes so we're going to a couple more pictures then we got to go!" Cruz's young body man Bruce Redden told the people left. Two minutes passed as the senator continues to pose with supporters who were still lined up. Redden raises his hand to summon him, and Cruz without missing a beat interjected, "I tell you what -- we're going to do a group picture."
Cruz, who has focused much of his campaign on winning over Iowa Republicans, has seen his polling tick up, and lately he's been looking beyond Iowa to the southern states, which will hold primaries in the days and weeks immediately after the early February contests in Iowa and New Hampshire.
That expanded effort - and the desire to hold onto the feel of retail politicking - is a more difficult endeavor because the crowds coming to see Cruz have surged in concert with his rising poll numbers in early states and nationally. Well over a thousand people showed up for rallies in Birmingham and Mobile, Alabama over the weekend.
Cruz's desire to work the crowd also creates some scheduling challenges. Campaign press secretary Catherine Frazier estimates that Cruz spends anywhere from 30 minutes to an hour after events meeting voters. Combined with the large crowds, this meant that the campaign could only realistically fit in two events a day during the "Take Off with Ted" tour through the Southern states, despite having a private jet.
"It's positive for our campaign in that it's an experience they'll have for a lifetime," campaign manager Jeff Roe said.
Cruz seems comfortable with the open dislike of nearly all of his Senate colleagues (something that he celebrates on the campaign trail). He's said as much -- in one debate, when asked to tell the audience about a weakness, he said, "If you want someone to grab a beer with, I may not be that guy. But if you want someone to drive you home, I will get the job done and I will get you home." It turns out, in fact, that the voters who turn out for his events like him plenty.
"I have done a few campaigns over the years, and know a few candidates. I have never seen anybody that adores the people that come to his events like he does," said Roe, who suggested it would have been easy for the candidate to take it easy over the holiday, "It's his birthday. It's very close to Christmas. It'd be very easy for him to take a couple of days make some fundraising crowds and hang out and here we are. It's because he loves people to interact, he love to hear their stories, and I think it makes him a better candidate frankly. That's not something you can teach. There's no strategy to this."
It's something that the people who come to see the Senator find endearing. "I can't believe he's still here right now," exclaimed Clyde Cummins of Kodak, Tennessee as he worked his way up to greet Cruz, "but that's the kind of guy I think he is."
Who is a dumb ass like Obama?
Cruz is a freshman senator with no executive experience - actually his resume is very similar to Obama on paper - although his career as a lawyer is far more significant than Obama’s.
That’s the documentation...although not where I first read it.
But what bugs me is his vote switching and his lack of executive experience. If I had a good sized company I wouldn’t hire him to run it. But that’s me.
This story has been written about at least twice that I know of. The link lists the name of the guy who was elected instead of Cruz.
TED CRUZ: Dana, I think there are two sharp distinctions between where I am today and where Barack Obama was when he launched his campaign. Number one, in his time in the senate he had basically been a back bencher. He had not been leading on any issues. In my time in the Senate you can accuse me of being a lot of things but a back bencher is not one of them.
DANA BASH: That may be true, but the big criticism of President Obama especially as the years have gone on is he didn’t have any experience in an executive function, he didn’t run any organization and the same can be said about you. What experience do you have to be commander in chief of the United States military, for example?
From March:
TED CRUZ: Well, unlike Barack Obama, I was not a community organizer before I was elected to the senate. I spent 5 1/2 years as the solicitor general of Texas, the chief lawyer for Texas in front of the U.S. Supreme Court. I supervised and led every year before the state of Texas in a 4,000 agency with over 700 lawyers.
Over the course of 5 1/2 years over and over again Texas led the nation defending conservative principles and winning.
Please prove your claim that it’s been discredited rather than insulting someone you don’t know.
Thanks, I will look into his time as Soliciter General and what leading that agency entails.
There is no doubt that Cruz’s career as a lawyer was stellar while Obama’s was practically non-existant.
I can’t say I love Cruz since I don’t know the man, but I do at least like him because he seems very sincere in his wish to heal this country and get us back to our Constitution. He’s a good guy, and a smart one. How refreshing that would be to have him as POTUS....
Cruz was involved (led?) the group of a bunch of states (31) in the Heller decision and won in the supreme court. Basically iirc - against the District of Columbia ruling that said the 2nd Amendment was NOT for individual citizens.
I wonder how much he was involved in keeping all 31 states together on the primary arguments and what they all wanted to get into the ruling. I imagine someone somewhere was doing a lot of negotiating so that each state felt their concerns were being met. Or maybe not - maybe it was as simple as “All we are concerned about is - YES, the 2nd refers to individual rights.”
But I’m guessing, anything involving a bunch of lawyers soon got pretty complicated!
I appreciate your useful information.
I want someone who has shown they have the ability to do the job and what he did for Texas is very relevant.
I have had the pleasure of meeting him and spending some quality one on one time with him on the grounds of our state Capitol in Austin when we celebrated 2nd Amendnent day a few months ago.
He gave a great speech defending the 2A, and I am convinced that he is the real conservative in the race. He is one of very few politicians to whom I have Made any monetary contributions. I think Ronald Reagan Was the last one I supported before him.
‘’Ted Cruz is his son’s godfather.’’
Either Cruz isn’t a godfather or he isn’t a Baptist. Not a “thing” in the Baptist denomination.
Ted Cruz, as Solicitor General of Texas, led the office of 4,000 employees, including 700 lawyers.
During private practice at Morgan Lewis, Ted Cruz built their appellate practice to be one of the top 20 law firms on National Law Journal's "Appellate Hot List" in 2010.
Since every U.S. President has to take the oath to preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States, is your guy going to follow the constitution? Or, is he going to use executive orders, just like Obama?
Thanks for the info.
I am more interested in Cruz’s leadership experience so I intend to investigate his experience as Solicitor General.
Also, don’t think it’s a given that Trump would ignore the constitution - he does understand contracts.
The problem is that we don’t have time for any President to learn on the job about the U.S. Constitution.
That is why I’d be happy with Cruz as VP or Attorney General.
Also leading a bunch of lawyers isn’t the same as dealing with the incredible mix of people a POTUS has to lead. Although it is said that no one is really prepared to be POTUS I think the building a national and internaitonal business is an excellent precursor for the job.
Ted Cruz, as Solicitor General of Texas, led the office of 4,000 employees, including 700 lawyers.
Won't it be wonderful when President Cruz appoints Supreme Court judges and Federal judges who follow the U.S. Constitution, just like him? This includes VP, AG and cabinet positions.
It's time for choosing!
No, I didn’t skip it and will read up on it for myself.
I have worked in the gritty world of construction and the more genteel world of a Fortune 500 company - you don’t deal with the same people. Trump has done both and more. He really does have extraordinary experience. Leaders hire lawyers.
This is probably a personal choice given my own background but I am preferential to the guy who has been in business over a lawyer. When we needed a lawyer we found the best we could for the job - they had an advisory position. The leadership of the business was a different matter entirely.
Regarding Cruz - he has had a couple of important unconservative votes and since he is so smart I would be negligent for not wondering about it. Yes, he switched one and complained that McConnell lied to him. Hmmm. Nevertheless I’m not totally opposed to Cruz...but given the life I’ve had I naturally see the businessman as the one with the drive and vision and a lawyer as a technician.
Your the boy. You are a nothing. Nobody. Only a loud mouthed smart ass that thinks he has all the answers and if anyone does not see things your way, then they are stupid and you are the smart one. Wrong. If your an example of what we have to look forward too, then the republicans are in trouble. Real trouble.
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