On Tuesday morning, Ted Cruz kicked off a Women for Cruz coalition in the liberal stronghold of Madison, Wisconsin. The senator was joined by his wife Heidi, mother Eleanor, and former presidential candidate Carly Fiorina for a conversation on issues considered important to women.
In a change of pace from prior events, Cruz gave a shortened stump speech and focused on the meaning of the term “women’s issue,” itself:
“This event this morning is a celebration of strong women. One of the most frustrating things about the Democrats is the Democrats love to pigeonhole women. Put ’em in a little box [and] you have a set of issues that are women’s issues. Well, listen. I have news for the Democrat party: Women are not a special interest. Women are a majority of the United States of America and every issue is a women’s issue.”
Cruz went on to say that his campaign is about three issues, those being jobs, freedom, and security. Despite the Democrat party’s effort to deem only issues advancing the progressive cause as valid women’s issues, Cruz made a point to emphasize that these three crucial issues are inherently women’s issues just as they are men’s.
Cruz then sat down with his wife, mother, and Carly Fiorina for a series of questions fielded by moderator Rebecca Hagelin.
Heidi Cruz spoke of having spent time in Africa as a child and the effect it had on her career choice. The daughter of a missionary and dentist, she explained how she came to appreciate the key tenets of American society and government. “You think about why these countries are so far behind [and] it is because they do not have a system of capitalism where people can borrow money, have an idea and be able to fund that idea, and produce a product.” Neither is there a system that allows for someone to take risk while baring the responsibility for that risk, she explained, and a court system for the pursuit of due justice. Lastly, she spoke of the lack of a political system free of corruption. “It is so important that we protect those three basic things about our democracy.”
Former Republican presidential candidate and Hewlett Packard CEO Carly Fiorina recalled the career path she travelled, having started as a secretary for a small real estate firm and finished as the head of a $90 billion technology firm. She emphasized the need to simplify the personal and corporate tax codes, stressing that nearly two-thirds of the nation’s job growth comes from small businesses. The problem today, she said, is an excess of power concentrated in the hands of a few:
“As the CEO of a 90-billion dollar firm, I could make a 73-thousand page tax code work for us. I could hire the lawyers, I could hire the accountants. I could hire the lobbyists. And we did.
You see all that complexity in the tax code? It favors the big. The big company over the small business. It favors the wealthy and the well-connected and the powerful, like Donald Trump, by the way, who is ‘the system.’ And he will preserve the system because he’s taken advantage of the system all his life.
So, why is Ted Cruz’ tax plan so important? Because it’s not just about lowering rates: it’s about simplifying … The reason being a constitutional conservative is so important to economic opportunity is because conservatives understand that the problem is too much power concentrated in the hands of too few. Too much economic power, too much political power.”
Although neither Mr. nor Mrs. Cruz addressed rumors printed in the National Enquirer, they did take time to describe a few things they appreciated most about each other.
The event this morning is one of several events the Ted Cruz has held in Wisconsin in the past week. A recent Marquette Law School poll has Ted Cruz pulling into the lead the with 40% of likely voters. Donald Trump follows with 30% and John Kasich trails with 21%. The poll is the final poll to be released before Wisconsin holds its primaries on Tuesday, April 5.
H/T: PolitiBrew
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