Cruz's 2016 anxiety: Jeb's money (Lunch with Ambassador John Bolton)

The Washington Examiner ^ | February 13, 2015 | Rebecca Berg

[2ndDivisionVet]

The early dinner crowd near the Capitol on Thursday yielded at least one notable pairing, with overtones of the presidential election cycle to come: Sen. Ted Cruz and former Ambassador John Bolton.

Sharing a meal at Johnny’s Half Shell before Bolton was set to appear on Fox News, Cruz launched into a discussion of 2016 strategy audible to anyone within earshot, including a reporter for the Washington Examiner.

Bolton has himself flirted with the idea of running for president in 2016, but his conversation with Cruz suggested the Texas senator, at least, views Bolton as a source of valuable input, not as a potential challenger.

In a discussion spanning roughly one hour, Cruz appealed to Bolton for policy advice and gamed out the potential 2016 landscape with him, including sizing up other potential Republican candidates.

“It seems to me that Rand is running,” Cruz said of Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., who has stepped eagerly toward the presidential campaign trail, although he has yet to announce his candidacy.

Cruz seemed unintimidated by former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee, who last month ended his show on Fox News to weigh a presidential bid. Huckabee is viewed as having strong appeal among many of the same conservative Republicans Cruz would be courting — but Cruz predicted he would be able to take a bite out of Huckabee’s base.

And Cruz noted Mitt Romney’s assessment, reported in multiple press accounts as the former Massachusetts governor toyed with a third bid for the presidency, that the Republican field as it is developing is inherently flawed.

The stickiest point of strategy for Cruz seemed to be fundraising, which at this stage of the invisible primary is the focus among likely candidates. Former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush has crisscrossed the country looking to lock up the Republican Party’s biggest donors, in hopes of posting a “shock and awe” first fundraising quarter for his Right To Rise political action committee.

Bush is perceived as a major fundraising threat to most other Republicans, but he will likely prove especially strong in Florida, his home state, and Texas, the power center of his family’s political network — eating in to fundraising by Florida Sen. Marco Rubio, former Texas Gov. Rick Perry and Cruz.

In his conversation with Bolton, Cruz acknowledged the tough fundraising climb ahead.

“I view the Jeb operation as, they’re going to have all the money they need,” Cruz said, “whereas we need sufficient grassroots support to get the message out.”

Cruz has acknowledged he is looking at running for president, and he has said publicly that he will decide by June. In the meantime, he has acted unmistakably like a candidate: traveling to Iowa recently to speak at the Freedom Summit, with plans to return to New Hampshire next month. Cruz also joined Paul and Rubio last month for a forum hosted by the Koch brothers network of outside groups, which any Republican contender for the presidency would be wise to court.

Cruz’s political operation is also beginning to take shape. At the helm are Jason Johnson, who engineered Cruz’s unlikely Senate victory in 2012, and Jeff Roe, a Republican operative based in Kansas City. This week, former Newt Gingrich spokesman Rick Tyler signed on with Cruz’s Jobs, Growth and Freedom PAC as a senior communications adviser.

Now, Cruz is looking to build a stable of policy advisers to help shape his campaign platform, he told Bolton.

“We are putting together policy advisers,” Cruz said, “and I would love your thoughts on that.”

Tyler, Cruz’s spokesman, characterized the meeting as a standard one for anyone looking at a bid for president, as Cruz is.

“Sen. Cruz is seriously considering a run in 2016, and he is actively seeking advice from other thoughtful leaders,” Tyler said Friday. “John Bolton would certainly qualify as someone you’d want to reach out to, particularly on national security issues.”

[txhurl]

These are very short excerpts of an hour-long conversation, and we don’t know a single word that John Bolton said.

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And they’re going to keep it that way. Whatever Cruz said scared them silly, but they must bait for the click-thru.

[lonevoice]

Agreed, and I sure wish we knew what it was.

I, for one, can't wait to give Senator Cruz my money.

[CyberAnt]

I’ve been saying for quite a while now .. “I’m voting for Ted Cruz; if his name is not on the ballot, I’m writing it in.”