# Ted Cruz Presidential campaign discussion thread **URL:** \ **Category:** Politics & Elections\ **Created:** [March 23, 2015, 2:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ted-cruz-presidential-campaign-discussion-thread/715774 "2015-03-23T14:47:58Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 8
**Author:** ![Northern\_Piper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/northern_piper/32/5304_2.png) [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2015, 4:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ted-cruz-presidential-campaign-discussion-thread/715774/141 "2015-08-25T04:00:58Z")
> [@Dr.Drake](#): > > Wow, birtherism for Ted Cruz? It is irrelevant what additional citizenships his parents had at the time of his birth. If one parent was an American (and one was), then he, too, is an American citizen. Not quite. Birth out of the US to a US citizen doesn’t automatically confer US citizenship; the parent must meet two additional requirements, as explained by this blog post at [Electoral-Vote.com](http://www.electoral-vote.com/evp2013/Pres/Maps/Aug20.html#item-1): > [@](#): > > Cruz is a more interesting and complicated case. Most media reports about him have it wrong, so pay attention. Cruz was born on Dec. 22, 1970 in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. His father, Rafael Cruz, was born in Cuba and fought with Fidel Castro against Fulgencio Batista. The senior Cruz later moved to Canada with his wife (Ted Cruz’ mother, Eleanor Darragh), who was born in Wilmington, DL. > > **Under U.S. law at the time, a baby born abroad to a U.S. citizen parent and a noncitizen parent is automatically a U.S. citizen (and presumably natural born) provided that the citizen parent meets two other conditions** as stated here on the State Department’s Website. The two conditions are: > > **• The citizen parent must have lived in the U.S. for 10 years before the birth.** > > \*\*• Five of those years must have been after the age of 14. > \*\* > Thus the fact that Cruz’ mother was born in Delaware is not sufficient to transmit her U.S. citizenship to her son. She would have to have met the above tests as well. If Cruz is serious about proving his status as a natural born citizen, he needs to document her whereabouts for 10 years in the U.S. from before 1970. It is far from clear what might constitute proof. She graduated from Rice University in 1956, but that diploma probably doesn’t state how long she attended Rice. She might have transferred in from the University of Alberta in her senior year. > > It is fairly likely that Darragh met the requirements, but Democrats who are tired of Republicans bringing up Obama’s birthplace long after he released his long-form birth certificate, could continue to hound Cruz for proof about where his mother lived. That may not be so easy to obtain any more. His mother is still alive, but she may not have saved her utility bills from before 1970. Now, odds are his mother meets those tests, but strictly speaking, the fact that his mum was USian, while a necessary condition, doesn’t answer the question of his eligibility. ---
**Author:** ![Dr.Drake](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ad7895/32.png) [@Dr.Drake](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr.Drake)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2015, 5:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ted-cruz-presidential-campaign-discussion-thread/715774/142 "2015-08-25T05:03:34Z")
> [@Northern\_Piper](#): > > Not quite. Birth out of the US to a US citizen doesn’t automatically confer US citizenship; the parent must meet two additional requirements. . . . Not that I get any credit for it, but I actually knew this… ---
**Author:** ![DrumBum](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e79b87/32.png) [@DrumBum](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrumBum)\ **Post date:** [September 2, 2015, 6:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ted-cruz-presidential-campaign-discussion-thread/715774/143 "2015-09-02T18:15:32Z")
Sen. Ted Cruz avoids Megyn Kelly’s question on “birthright citizenship” saying it is a distraction and a question that liberal’s are making him answer. [link](http://www.cnn.com/2015/08/26/politics/ted-cruz-birthright-immigration-megyn-kelly/?iid=ob_article_organicsidebar_expansion&iref=obinsite) ---
**Author:** ![ElvisL1ves](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/5daacb/32.png) [@ElvisL1ves](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ElvisL1ves)\ **Post date:** [September 2, 2015, 6:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ted-cruz-presidential-campaign-discussion-thread/715774/144 "2015-09-02T18:20:30Z")
[Cruz blames Obama for the recent cop murders.](http://www.motherjones.com/mojo/2015/09/ted-cruz-obama-darren-goforth) > [@](#): > > “Cops across this country are feeling the assault,” Cruz told reporters when campaigning in Milford, New Hampshire, on Monday. “They’re feeling the assault from the president, from the top on down as we see. Whether it’s in Ferguson or Baltimore, the response of senior officials, of the president, of the attorney general, is to vilify law enforcement.” Shameless. ---
**Author:** ![RTFirefly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c77e96/32.png) [@RTFirefly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RTFirefly)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2015, 10:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ted-cruz-presidential-campaign-discussion-thread/715774/145 "2015-10-15T10:42:03Z")
And [the Cruz craziness continues](http://trailblazersblog.dallasnews.com/2015/10/ted-cruz-calls-democrats-debate-an-audition-to-wear-jackboots-of-despot.html/): > [@](#): > > “It was more socialism, more pacifism, more weakness & less Constitution,” he told about 100 people crammed into a motel lobby in Kalona, a small town in southeastern Iowa. **“It was a recipe to destroy a country.”** > > Speaking after the campaign event with reporters outside the Dutch Country Inn, Cruz acknowledged that **he hadn’t actually watched the debate.** During much of it, he was stumping at a Pizza Hut a half-hour away. > > But he had firm views on what viewers saw. > > “We’re seeing our freedoms taken away every day and\*\* last night was an audition for who would wear the jackboot most vigorously. \*\*Last night was an audition for who would embrace government power for who would strip your and my individual liberties,” he said. Bolding mine. Holy shit, this guy is crazy. And he really could actually win the Republican nomination. ---
**Author:** ![not\_what\_you\_d\_expect](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/not_what_you_d_expect/32/3246_2.png) [@not\_what\_you\_d\_expect](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/not_what_you_d_expect)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2015, 11:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ted-cruz-presidential-campaign-discussion-thread/715774/146 "2015-10-15T11:46:51Z")
I don’t care what anyone says, there is a reptile under the mask Cruz wears. God, he gives me the heebie jeebies. ---
**Author:** ![adaher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/dec6dc/32.png) [@adaher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/adaher)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2015, 12:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ted-cruz-presidential-campaign-discussion-thread/715774/147 "2015-10-15T12:04:27Z")
Cruz is one of the most academically brilliant men to ever run for President. If he says anything stupid, he’s making it up. He knows better. So yes, there is a reptile under that mask. ---
**Author:** ![wolfpup](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wolfpup/32/10618_2.png) [@wolfpup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wolfpup)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2015, 12:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ted-cruz-presidential-campaign-discussion-thread/715774/148 "2015-10-15T12:18:32Z")
> [@adaher](#): > > Cruz is one of the most academically brilliant men to ever run for President. If he says anything stupid, he’s making it up. He knows better. So yes, there is a reptile under that mask. I don’t know if “one of the most academically brilliant men to ever run for President” is entirely justified, but yes, he’s not as stupid as he looks. He appears to think that a calculated exploitation of the lunatic vote is a viable route to power. Given the lunatic demographic at the present time, he might be right. So perhaps one could scratch “crazy” and substitute “dangerous”. ---
**Author:** ![adaher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/dec6dc/32.png) [@adaher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/adaher)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2015, 1:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ted-cruz-presidential-campaign-discussion-thread/715774/149 "2015-10-15T13:07:16Z")
His academic resume is hard to top. Harvard, Princeton, and Alan Dershowitz saying he was “off the charts brilliant” in school. He even edited the Harvard Law Review, just like Obama. And graduated magna cum laude, like Obama. The man has a ton of brains, but he sounds like Donald Trump. It’s an act. ---
**Author:** ![Gyrate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gyrate/32/3588_2.png) [@Gyrate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gyrate)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2015, 1:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ted-cruz-presidential-campaign-discussion-thread/715774/150 "2015-10-15T13:22:27Z")
Ben Carson is brilliant too, yet I’m pretty sure the stuff he’s spouting isn’t an act. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Stainless\_Steel\_Rat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_stainless_steel_rat/32/5727_2.png) [@The\_Stainless\_Steel\_Rat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Stainless_Steel_Rat)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2015, 1:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ted-cruz-presidential-campaign-discussion-thread/715774/151 "2015-10-15T13:25:40Z")
> [@not\_what\_you\_d\_expect](#): > > I don’t care what anyone says, there is a reptile under the mask Cruz wears. > > God, he gives me the heebie jeebies. Thee and me both. He is a rank opportunist, IMHO, albeit and a skilled and intelligent one, as adaher notes, which scares me even more. I’d vote Fionia before I’d vote for him. Between him, Carson and Trump…I’ll be looking for property in New Zealand. ---
**Author:** ![BobLibDem](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/boblibdem/32/3149_2.png) [@BobLibDem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BobLibDem)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2015, 1:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ted-cruz-presidential-campaign-discussion-thread/715774/152 "2015-10-15T13:25:41Z")
If he is indeed intelligent, and his words defy that assessment, then he is an evil person. He channels our baser instincts and engages in the politics of hate and division. I could forgive him for being a fool, I can’t forgive him for acting like one in order to appeal to racists and haters. ---
**Author:** ![adaher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/dec6dc/32.png) [@adaher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/adaher)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2015, 1:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ted-cruz-presidential-campaign-discussion-thread/715774/153 "2015-10-15T13:25:57Z")
That’s because Carson doesn’t know dick about politics. Cruz has made politics his life. ---
**Author:** ![adaher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/dec6dc/32.png) [@adaher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/adaher)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2015, 1:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ted-cruz-presidential-campaign-discussion-thread/715774/154 "2015-10-15T13:26:59Z")
> [@BobLibDem](#): > > If he is indeed intelligent, and his words defy that assessment, then he is an evil person. He channels our baser instincts and engages in the politics of hate and division. I could forgive him for being a fool, I can’t forgive him for acting like one in order to appeal to racists and haters. I wouldn’t accuse him of engaging in the politics of hate, but yes, he does dumb down his message to appeal to the frothing right. It’s a shame too, because we need smart people on our side. I suspect that Cruz in his heart is Dick Lugar but out of his mouth comes Donald Trump. ---
**Author:** ![ElvisL1ves](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/5daacb/32.png) [@ElvisL1ves](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ElvisL1ves)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2015, 1:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ted-cruz-presidential-campaign-discussion-thread/715774/155 "2015-10-15T13:32:48Z")
> [@adaher](#): > > That’s because Carson doesn’t know dick about politics. You keep telling us about how he’s learning. When did your view change? ---
**Author:** ![Onomatopoeia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/onomatopoeia/32/4145_2.png) [@Onomatopoeia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Onomatopoeia)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2015, 1:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ted-cruz-presidential-campaign-discussion-thread/715774/156 "2015-10-15T13:51:43Z")
> [@ElvisL1ves](#): > > You keep telling us about how he’s learning. When did your view change? I think even \*\*adaher \*\*will admit at this point that Carson is a savant. it becomes more apparent with every utterance that, other than being prodigious in one area, Carson is an utter numbskull. ---
**Author:** ![BobLibDem](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/boblibdem/32/3149_2.png) [@BobLibDem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BobLibDem)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2015, 1:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ted-cruz-presidential-campaign-discussion-thread/715774/157 "2015-10-15T13:53:15Z")
I’m wondering if Carson has early onset Alzheimer’s. Outside of brain surgery, there seems to be no beginning to his knowledge. ---
**Author:** ![adaher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/dec6dc/32.png) [@adaher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/adaher)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2015, 2:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ted-cruz-presidential-campaign-discussion-thread/715774/158 "2015-10-15T14:06:35Z")
> [@ElvisL1ves](#): > > You keep telling us about how he’s learning. When did your view change? He is learning. But he’s still way behind an average Doper, much less Ted cruz. ---
**Author:** ![Onomatopoeia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/onomatopoeia/32/4145_2.png) [@Onomatopoeia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Onomatopoeia)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2015, 2:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ted-cruz-presidential-campaign-discussion-thread/715774/159 "2015-10-15T14:09:18Z")
> [@BobLibDem](#): > > I’m wondering if Carson has early onset Alzheimer’s. Outside of brain surgery, there seems to be no beginning to his knowledge. I don’t think it is Alzheimer’s. Carson simply has little knowledge outside his area of expertise. Could this be the result of an overly-extended and myopic focus on medical matters to the exclusion of everything else? Who knows? Carson is a highly skilled medical technician who is truly not equipped for anything else. ---
**Author:** ![ElvisL1ves](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/5daacb/32.png) [@ElvisL1ves](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ElvisL1ves)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2015, 2:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ted-cruz-presidential-campaign-discussion-thread/715774/160 "2015-10-15T14:11:50Z")
> [@adaher](#): > > He is learning. What evidence do you base that on? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ted-cruz-presidential-campaign-discussion-thread/715774.md?page=7) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ted-cruz-presidential-campaign-discussion-thread/715774.md?page=9)