Ted Cruz's presidential run is bad news for Rand Paul

Washington Examiner ^ | 03/23/2015 | Philip Klein

[SeekAndFind]

Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Tex., on Monday is expected to announce he's running for president. However well he ends up doing in the Republican primaries, one thing is for sure — the development is terrible news for Sen. Rand Paul's presidential ambitions.

Whatever small chance Paul had in the 2016 presidential race was premised on his ability to reach beyond the core supporters of his father's, by articulating a message that appealed to a broader coalition of Republicans. The biggest opportunity Paul had for growth was with Tea Party voters who would be drawn to his limited government message. The biggest obstacle he had was foreign policy views that are also out of step with many of those voters.

In an ideal world for Paul, he'd try to find a way to assuage the concerns of national security-oriented conservative voters without totally alienating his core supporters. And one way to do that was attack the other candidates for being insufficiently committed to limited government principles. That already difficult task becomes effectively impossible with Cruz in the race.

[SunkenCiv]

Probably good, since DIABN is difficult to pronounce. :’)

[SunkenCiv]

Ideally, Rand, Ron, Pitchfork Pat, Don Black, and some other skinheads and Holocaust deniers would be on the same elevator when the cable broke. Of course, I mean that in the nicest possible way.

[Dick Bachert]

You'll be hard pressed to find anyone more devoted to the Constitution and the rule of law than I. The flap that Ted may not meet the purest meaning of a "natural born citizen" because BOTH parents were not born here falls to insignificance as we think back that America put into office in 2008 a cretin who not only FAILED that test but has demonstrated since that he HATES AMERICA. Since coming on the national scene, Ted Cruz has demonstrated by his words and ACTIONS that he LOVES America – THE IDEA – and has been resisting Obama and his Marxist agenda at every turn. And if you haven't heard his father speak on the subject, please take the time to do so and you'll understand why Ted feels as he does about this place!

All that said, whichever solid conservative we put in the White House in 2016 – after a thorough fumigating and disinfecting, of course -- will fail if we don't also run the Obama enablers and apologists – in BOTH PARTIES -- off Capitol Hill! Do what you must to assure that YOUR guys will support whoever makes it to 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue as we begin what will probably be the decades long job of reversing the incredible damage Obama has done to the very fabric of the American idea and the rule of law the Founders sought to leave us.

[servantboy777]

Perhaps Cruz/Paul ticket...who knows.

[Dogbert41]

"Whatever small chance Paul had in the 2016 presidential race was premised on his ability to reach beyond the core supporters of his father's"

And that's that.

[Kaled]

Indeed. Reagan has a knack for boiling the key issue down to freedom (as noted in my sigline).

[jonatron]

Don’t give S0r0s any ideas.

[Lazamataz]

Never mention the name Reagan, you lousy leftist troll. You are not worthy to mention his name.

[Kaled]

You'd prefer a picture?

[Lazamataz]

[Engraved-on-His-hands]

Cut him some slack. He’s an old-timer. He’s been here for almost....Hey, wait a minute!

[Kaled]

The question is how well Rand can position himself to pick up the freed-up supporters after Ted flames out.

[conservative98]

[Plummz]

Cruz has the same immigration/amnesty position as Paul.

[manc]

Paul is not even a republican, he wants open border, drugs, homosexuality agenda, hell he should be running in hos own party

[manc]

Paul will do his best to stay in as long as he can to bleed off any votes to a conservative. He should be honest and run as a liberal-tarian because he is no republican let alone conservative.

[manc]

You seem to have got lost as this is a conservative website not a place to push your homosexual, drugs, open borders, and reduced military.

Seeing as you have only been here or probably another retread liberal troll who pushes Paul then may I suggest you do one and find a liberal-tarin website.

[SoConPubbie]

The question is how well Rand can position himself to pick up the freed-up supporters after Ted flames out.

Naw. Rand has already flamed out.

He let his inner big "L" Libertarian self out of the bag way too soon.

[SoConPubbie]

Cruz has the same immigration/amnesty position as Paul.

Now that is just plain laughable and demonstrably untrue.

Does Rand Paul's Immigration/Amnesty match this set of policy positions? These are the Immigration related policy positions of Ted Cruz:

Here is a list of what Ted Cruz supports with respect to Illegal Immigration and Border Issues from NumbersUSA.com. This is a list of his official positions:

From NumbersUSA:

1. Oppose Amnesty - OPPOSE offering the officially estimated 11 million people illegally in the U.S. long-term work permits and/or a path to citizenship (whether through a blanket amnesty or an "earned legalization" or other form)

2. Attrition through Enforcement - fund an Attrition Through Enforcement campaign to cause illegal aliens to self-repatriate back to their home countries over time

3. Mandate E-Verify - jobs held by illegal aliens be opened up for unemployed Americans and legal immigrants already here by requiring all businesses to use the Federal automated, rapid-response internet system (E-Verify) to screen out illegal foreign workers

4. Assist Local Police - federal government be required to cooperate with local officials and pick up all illegal aliens detained by local law enforcement

5. Defund Sanctuary Cities - reduce funding to state and local governments that adopt sanctuary policies and other rewards for illegal foreign workers and the companies that hire them

6. Fund Entry/Exit System - fully fund the completion of the entry/exit system at all borders and points of entry in which every person entering and leaving the U.S. is logged into a database which would notify law enforcement, businesses and others when a foreign tourist, student, worker or other fails to leave on-time? *(US-VISIT was approved by Congress in 1996 and has never been sufficiently funded and is largely incomplete.)

7. Border Security - fund and provide oversight for the full implementation of border security measures already signed into law

8. End Birthright Citizenship - move the U.S. in line with most other nations and stop the policy of giving automatic citizenship at birth to children when both parents are illegal aliens?

9. End Chain Migration - implement the bi-partisan, national Jordan Commission recommendation to limit family-based immigration to the nuclear family of spouse and minor children, thus eliminating the "chain migration" categories of extended family that are the key reason immigration has quadrupled since the 1960s

10. End Visa Lotteries - institute safeguards that will prevent importation of foreign workers any time they would threaten the jobs or depress the wages of American workers

11. Reduce Total Immigration - Until 1976, U.S. immigration tradition was an average of around 250,000 a year; since new legislation in 1990, it has averaged 1,000,000 a year. More than 38 million foreign workers and dependents now live in the U.S. At current rates, immigration will add more than 100 million additional people to the U.S. population by 2060. This government-forced rapid population expansion will require huge increases in energy, roads and other infrastructure and services.

[Lurkinanloomin]

Thanks