Talking at Liberty University (Jerry Fallwell’s) where all the students are required to attend the speech like North Koreans, he is making every controversial whacky right-wing point to forced applause. He is forcing every Republican in the race to debate these crazy ideas. It’s a freaking gold mine for the Democrats.
The Dem strategists are taping every moment of this speech and cheering like they are about to win the Super Bowl.
So, Ted is the first candidate to officially declare for the 2016 race. There’s no accident he’s picked Liberty University as his campaign kickoff location. I think he sees Santorum and Huckabee as weak candidates and he wants to try to lock up the religious right voters who are heavy participants in the Iowa Caucus and South Carolina primary.
Cruz isn’t doing this just for a job on Fox News and/or book deals. He’s a US Senator from a reliable Republican state. He might be vulnerable to a primary challenge, but it’s highly unlikely he’d lose the Senate seat in a general election.
But, he isn’t popular in his own party. He’s been a media attention whore since he won the primary in 2010. He’s best known for the government shutdown and the Green Eggs and Ham debacle during his filibuster.
Cruz and Rick Perry supposedly have no love lost between them. I don’t think Perry will pose too much of a challenge to Cruz as the Texan in the race. Perry is no longer governor, he wasn’t particularly loved by Republicans, and an improving national economy coupled with the oil price drop will take the air out of his Texas Miracle claims. Plus Perry still has his debate debacle as well as the secession talk hanging over him.
My estimate right now is that he’s running either for Vice President or laying the ground for a 2020 run. He’s going to be reminded constantly in the debates of his experience being similar to Obama.
I would like to see the numbers, but I suspect that Cruz is misreading his support. As a firebrand, his support is passionate, vocal, and reliable. But IMHO it is not very wide. Unless he can exhibit the ability to move more toward the middle, then I can’t help but think he will remain a marginal candidate.
I am a Democrat and I support Cruz acting like a nut job.
This is almost as fun as Palin
I believe there is a decent chance that the overall performance of government will improve for the next 12 months, simply because Cruz will be on the campaign trail instead of in Washington.
I don’t think he’s necessarily hurting the Republicans. Cruz may end up establishing himself as the Right Wing candidate and Hillary Clinton (or whoever) as the Left Wing candidate. And then by default whoever gets the Republican nomination - Jeb Bush, Marco Rubio, Rick Santorum, Scott Walker, etc - will be the moderate centrist candidate. Cruz will drag the ideological spectrum so far to the right than mainstream conservatism will seem normal in comparison.
The same thing happened in 1992 when Bush was challenged for renomination. With David Duke in the race, Pat Buchanan seemed like a reasonable candidate.
Ted Cruz looks like Kevin Spacey’s long-lost brother.
That is all.
He seemed so reasonable that Miami voters turned out in droves for Pat in 2000.
Bolding mine.
For the first time in recorded history, the name ‘Santorum’ and the term ‘moderate centrist’ occupied the same sentence. Just how far to the right can the 'Pubbies go?
Not quite, IMHO the more up to date example to me is the previous presidential election, Romney had to match several items that the crazy Republican candidates were making during the primaries, by the time the general election took place he could not jump back into the “moderate” mold.
The folks at Liberty Conservatives share their 6 Reasons Why Ted Cruz Is Not A Serious Candidate For President.
They seem to be Rand Paul followers, so their reasons are not mine. Realistically speaking, he has little chance of gaining the nomination.
I guess I will worry when he wins a primary or two. If his campaign actually lasts long enough, that is.
Regards,
Shodan
This might be the first time the Liberty Conservatives and Jerry Brown have ever agreed on anything.
And… the Clown Show begins.
We’re in for 20 long months of this shit. :smack:
Isn’t the fact that he was born in Canada a pretty big obstacle?
He can’t move to the middle without becoming lost in the crowd. Being a far-right lunatic is his standout feature and the whole of his appeal with whoever it is that finds him appealing.
The prevailing opinion is that he’s constitutionally eligible because of his American-born mother and Cuban-born but I believe American citizen father at the time. One must keep in mind that it’s only suspected Kenyan-born Muslims that are ineligible to be president. It’s true that Cruz automatically got Canadian citizenship, too, but he took the opportunity to renounce any association with that bunch of socialists. 
I would never wish that a crazy person will run so that they’ll get killed in the general election.
What if they win?