Having watched my senator closely ever since he sided with the Muslim Brotherhood over the Egyptian military I've concluded that Ted is a cunning profession politician that thinks shows remarkable flexibility on issues when the political headwinds are blowing against him. I really do not know where is stands on issues important to me.
Since he was thinking about it as a kid, it looks like he didn't just start planning a campaign for the presidency after he became senator. He ran for the senate just as a necessary step to get name recognition and a reputation as a "principled conservative". I'd bet that every vote he took and every stance he took as Senator was calculated with the view of how he it might help him get the presidential contest nomination.