Posted on 01/08/2016 12:27:17 AM PST by 2ndDivisionVet
Senator Ted Cruz is the most interesting candidate in the US presidential race right now. As a darling of the Tea Party, in 2012, he swept into the Senate, representing Texas, having campaigned on deeply conservative principles and policies. At the time, many dismissed him as a rabble-rouser who would wind up as a less successful version of George W Bush. Now, not only is he leading in the polls in Iowa, but he has also beat out senator Marco Rubio as the dark horse of the race thus far.
Cruz has been criticised for having some of the most conservative views in the contest. Though his conservatism is rooted in a strict interpretation of the US constitution - not the modern populism that has propelled candidates like former senator Rick Santorum and former governor Mike Huckabee to call for heavy defence spending and further government interference - his extreme views on abortion and the death penalty have many questioning if he can appeal to moderate Republicans, let alone independents.
Despite these views, however, Cruz has found support in some of the most unlikely places. Alan Dershowitz, the famous liberal law professor at Harvard, said of Cruz: "One of the sharpest students I had... I've had 10,000 students over my 50 years at Harvard... he has to qualify among the brightest."
During his career, Cruz has worked as both a law clerk to Supreme Court justice William Rehnquist, as well as the solicitor general of Texas; a job which led him to argue several cases in front of the Supreme Court himself. His experience easily pegs him as the most knowledgeable candidate on state and individual rights, a helpful title to hold when vying for conservative votes.
With a few obvious exceptions - including his anti-immigration stance and support for building a wall at the Mexican border - many of Cruz's policy proposals adopt progressive conservatism, meaning they rest more on evidence than ideology. He strays from the pack when the facts are clear, evidenced just this week when, according to the Wall Street Journal, he became "the first leading presidential candidate to oppose the federal Renewable Fuel Standard" - a farming handout that is protected heavily by the agricultural lobby.
When the TV debates kicked off, many thought Rubio was the one to watch: moderate, charismatic, with both "grassroots" and "establishment" likability. But Cruz has come out far ahead in Iowa and, if the polls are to be believed, he will be determined the winner in that state's caucus in just a matter of weeks.
My bet is that Rubio still has a small edge on Cruz to secure the Republican nomination. While the Iowa caucuses play a pivotal role for under-performing candidates, for whom it is the last chance to stay in the race, its voters are very socially conservative and have failed to choose the candidate that resonates most with the rest of the party in recent years.
But this is still anyone's race, and Cruz's prospects are looking up. If he wins Iowa, the feat will deliver a crushing blow to Donald Trump and potentially trigger the billionaire's downfall. Trump's main pull is that he's a "winner" - when he's not winning anymore, his campaign will inevitably decline.
When it does, someone will reap the lost votes. Six months ago, Cruz seemed like an after-thought; today, he may be peaking at just the right moment.
Yep, my thought, as well.
Last time I checked out True Blue-—which was a while back-—they were handing out gift cards to get people to post. Seriously.
And just where are they getting the sponsorship or money to provide those cards? A site with no traffic has no advertizing so who footed the bill?
Just keep him the hell out of Skyrim! MY KINGDOM!!! MINE!!!!
MINE!!!
He can have America. I didn’t want it anyway. No one worships Talos...
“Pip?” In this context?
I’m showing my ignorance to bump the thread.
Go Cruz!
5.56mm
OMG, that was for real?
I thought they were joking.
I didn’t. You should work on your reading comprehension skills.
It was real, lol. I felt a stab of pity...but it passed.
Yes, I know you don’t want any other male in YOUR neighborhood...
LOL!
They removed it. What was it?
Genetic imperative. Will of Talos. Pick one ;)
+1
Tell that to Dubya, Jimmy Carter and Barack Obama.
I'm neither an evangelical protestant nor a Tea Party member. Ted Cruz is my first choice.
I've seen numerous national polls showing Trump would lose to Hillary by a GREATER margin than the other Republicans. I will be happy to cite them for you. The only people who seem to think "national polls don't matter" are Trump fans that argue that Trump will win a 49 state landslide because they say so.
"When we launched the campaign, our objective was simple. We wanted to unify conservatives. The key to winning is energizing and mobilizing millions of conservatives, evangelicals and Reagan Democrats who stayed home."
This was reported by the Dallas Morning News.
I get very little news about California from my local newspaper. Give me a good source for what is happening in California.
As for Senator Cruz, he is working to energize the “millions of conservatives, evangelicals and Reagan Democrats who stayed home.” That is a winning strategy for a defeat of der Hildebeast. These people are polling a defeat of Hillary if she runs against Senator Cruz. We will need voters to vote.
I am always confused about the nature of the conservatives, evangelicals and Reagan Democrats. I do know that when Zer0 was elected and reelected, millions of conservatives, evangelicals and Reagan Democrats who stayed home. 25% of general election voters are evangelicals. In political terms, 20% of self-identified Republicans stated that they considered themselves as Tea Party Conservatives. The Tea Party has eroded in support in recent years. Conservatives, however, poll at 38% of the electorate. This is a mix of factions that make a narrow base if they are not energized. We must include the Reagan Democrats, which are also part of the Republican base. These voters must not be ignored or they will stay home. If anyone stays home, the Republican base will make little impact on the vote.
If anyone has a better take on what is the Republican base, I want to see it. That will make a good contribution to the discussion.
Religious conservatives consist of many different types of faiths and backgrounds. Evangelical protestants probably make up the largest chunk of religious voters, but there are also numerous Catholic, Orthodox Christian, Orthodox Jew, Mormon, Jehovah's Witnesses, etc., voters who support pro-life and pro-family candidates in the primary. Most of these religions are about as far away from "evangelical" in their theology as it gets, no matter how much the media likes to pretend that all religious conservatives are "evangelicals"
A similar thing can said for the "Tea Party". The goals of the Tea Party are shared by many conservatives, e.g., their main reason for formation was to make a serious attempt to roll back big government largess and root out corruption in politics that makes politicians out of touch with the grassroots. Probably 95% of GOP voters would agree with those goals. But people like me who agree with those goals are not necessarily Tea Party members. I certainly have not joined any local Tea Party organization or supported any national Tea Party group. The actual "Tea Party" organizations have often been taken over by Paulbots and GOP establishment types, so much so that the "Tea Party" label has been virtually meaningless. Anyone and everyone can claim to be "Tea Party".
If I was to describe my background, I am both a fiscally and socially conservative Catholic, and I'm strongly leaning Ted Cruz at this time.
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