Meet Ted Cruz: The dark horse Republican who could pip Donald Trump to the nomination

City A.M. ^ | January 8, 2016 | Kate Andrews

[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.

[don-o]

Stop digging. Maybe it’s not too late.

Did you read this site before you started posting? The site owner has historically had a very short fuse when our pro-life principles are marginalized.

[wagglebee]

Yep, now I know who you're talking about.

SOME (granted not all) of the Trump supporters on FR are starting to sound a lot like Obama supporters did eight years ago.

[Norm Lenhart]

The sane Trump supporters are passing that info around.

[cripplecreek]

My sisters and I were the only kids from our family to grow up in our little rural hometown. All my cousins ended up growing in Minneapolis, Ann Arbor, and Kalamazoo and every last one of them is a holier than thou liberal.

[xzins]

Hillary will make abortion the centerpiece of her campaign.

When 'abortion' comes up, talk about the poor little baby that a mom would want to love and hold in her arms being dismembered, having it's brains sucked out, or being scalded to death by chemicals.

[Darksheare]

So tell us, what are your views on abortion?

[Norm Lenhart]

My little berg was about 3,000 people. It was fun to watch kids come back from college ‘book smart and don’t know nothin’.

The ones that stayed usually relearned the art of common sense in a year or so once reality returned to them. The city types would occasional visit. Dumber every visit.

Rarely one would come back for a visit and still have the sense they left with. Not often though.

[cripplecreek]

You was city folk!

My little town was around 300 people. Today I live in a town of less than 100.

[Norm Lenhart]

I’m still a city folk, just in a different city. This one has rattlesnakes and scorpions instead of black bears and raccoons ;)

[nathanbedford]

In 1964 another New Yorker, Governor Nelson Rockefeller, campaigned against Barry Goldwater describing him as out of the mainstream. When Goldwater and his supporters maintained that he was well in the mainstream of middle America, the Republican establishment declared that it was a rather "meandering" stream.

New Yorkers have been trying to define to their own purposes doctrinal purity of conservatism since I have been following politics and long before.

Matt, you are a newbie to Free Republic, I am reluctant to discount your contributions solely for that reason but your reply is internally inconsistent and smacks of an opportunistic attack against Ted Cruz. I hope I am wrong in this assessment.

Ronald Reagan proved to my satisfaction that the Big tent arguments advanced by rinos is wrong. Rather, the winning approach is to identify compelling conservative principles and articulate a compelling conservative philosophy and watch people tear open the tent flaps to come inside.

[cripplecreek]

People who compare Trump to Reagan crack me up. Trump couldn’t give this speech.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nukzTmu8tPA

Kindness, humility, reaching out etc.

[wagglebee]

It appears that MattWood has been zotted and all of his posts deleted.

[Norm Lenhart]

Good.

[jjotto]

He seems to have used his actual business moniker. Ouch!

[Servant of the Cross]

So tell us, what are your views on abortion?

It would appear that either the cat has Matt's tongue ... or he has left the House!

[CatherineofAragon]

"Ronald Reagan proved to my satisfaction that the Big tent arguments advanced by rinos is wrong. Rather, the winning approach is to identify compelling conservative principles and articulate a compelling conservative philosophy and watch people tear open the tent flaps to come inside."

That's what Cruz does, too. Instead of putting on big sideshows in the cities, he gets out there in the areas no one else bothers with and actually talks with the people.

[CatherineofAragon]

Good riddance

[Servant of the Cross]

Good riddance

As best I can tell, it was your ping to me (on another thread) of Matthew's post #14 that started this ball rollin' .... Well done, My Lady!

[CatherineofAragon]

SOTC, thank you, friend...but I suspect it was the old-timers who came over and contacted the powers that be.

[cripplecreek]

Ted Cruz is also growing the base. Lots of young folks getting on board the Cruz Battleship.