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Ted Cruz Tag

Posted by Kemberlee Kaye on April 09, 2015 22 Comments
It's been less than three weeks since Senator Cruz announced his presidential candidacy. First, Ted Cruz supposedly scared a child in New Hampshire, only he didn't. Then, Cruz was a hypocrite for exploring health insurance options on the exchange... just like the rest of Congress. And now? ONE TIME TED CRUZ HAD A JOB. Mother Jones' David Corn has blown the lid plumb off Cruz's latest scandal.
In his bio on his presidential campaign website, Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) boasts of what he did as Texas solicitor general to defend the Second Amendment, the Pledge of Allegiance, and US sovereignty—all conservative causes. But Cruz does not detail another important chapter in his legal career: his work as a well-paid private attorney who helped corporations found guilty of wrongdoing.
We will pause here to momentarily savor Corn subtly arguing the guilty ought not be privy to a defense. Corn prattles on, feebly attempting to depict Sen. Cruz as a heartless, corporation-shilling, money-grubbing fraud. Though some would argue these are the virtues of a good attorney.

Posted by Fuzzy Slippers on April 04, 2015 16 Comments
Matt Berman at The National Journal asked, "Will Ted Cruz Be Able to Convince Anyone to Take His Campaign Seriously?", and the answer, apparently, is a resounding "yes."  According to Public Policy Polling (PPP),
Ted Cruz has the big momentum following the official announcement of his candidacy last week. His support has increased from 5% to 16% in just over a month, enough to make him one of three candidates in the top tier of GOP contenders, along with Scott Walker and Jeb Bush.
PPP goes on to observe that "Cruz has really caught fire with voters identifying themselves as 'very conservative' since his announcement. After polling at only 11% with them a month ago, he now leads the GOP field with 33% to 25% for Walker and 12% for Carson with no one else in double digits." It seems that despite early predictions, Ted Cruz as presidential candidate is, as Jazz Shaw at Hot Air notes, "stubbornly refus[ing] to implode":
Even after he won his seat, the media was keeping up the drumbeat, frequently abetted by senior members of his own party. (Wacko Birds, anyone?) But long before it was certain that Cruz might run for the White House, he began defying the narrative media formula. Those of us who didn’t know him were expecting the avalanche of stories which would erode his status as a serious politician. The problem is, they didn’t happen. Where were the “gaffes” we were all promised? He was supposed to come out and immediately begin screaming about the President being from Kenya, saying that women should enjoy being raped and calling for the South to secede again. Unfortunately for the cable news talking heads, it never happened. Cruz staked out a number of domestic and foreign policy issues and began beating the drum with his own proposals for how to meet those challenges. The media seemed to shoot themselves in the foot by tripping over each other to give the Senator air time, waiting for the expected crazy to emerge. There were times when his tactics were fairly brought under scrutiny, such as his approach to the budget battles / government shutdown situation, but that was a difference in opinion on legislative strategy, not the hoped for wild man moments. In the end, all they came up with was a recitation of a Dr. Seuss book during a filibuster, but anyone who looked briefly beyond the dishonestly edited clips on TV saw that it was actually a short message to beloved children. Not exactly the stuff of which career crashes are made.

Posted by Kemberlee Kaye on April 01, 2015 13 Comments
Senator Ted Cruz's campaign headquarters opened last night. Nestled in the bustling Upper Kirby neighborhood, the campaign HQ is situated in the heart of Houston. Handing out small American flags and Ted Cruz labelled bottles of water, volunteers sauntered through the crowd with iPad minis, ensuring faithful supporters were registered for campaign updates. With more attendees than anticipated, the lines to view the office space were quite lengthy. To keep people entertained, Rafael Cruz was there to shake hands: Ted cruz campaign hq open house houston rafael cruz president 2016

Posted by Fuzzy Slippers on March 29, 2015 17 Comments
Ted Cruz launched his presidential campaign on Monday with a fantastic speech at Liberty University, and his campaign raised $1 million in just over 24 hours. Within three days of his official announcement, Cruz's campaign had raised $2 million.  The Washington Post reports:
Sen. Ted Cruz's presidential campaign had a goal after it officially launched Monday: raise $1 million in a week. Turns out it only took a few hours. The Texas Republican's campaign says it met its fundraising goal at 2:30 a.m. Tuesday -- just a little more than 24 hours after he announced via Twitter that he would be running for president. Cruz made a formal announcement Monday morning at Liberty University in Lynchburg, Va. As of Thursday night the campaign has raised $2 million, about $500,000 of which came from large-money bundlers. The rest came from online donations.
This is quite remarkable given that the donations are pouring in from average Americans who respond to Cruz's message of adherence to the Constitution, a limited federal government, a strong economy, substantial tax and other needed reforms, and a coherent foreign policy that foregrounds America's interests.   He touches on each of these points in his first full-length campaign ad:

Posted by Kemberlee Kaye on March 27, 2015 13 Comments
Earlier today, MSNBC published a story suggesting Senator Cruz supports legalization of undocumented individuals currently in the United States. Derived from the fact that Senator Cruz hasn't specifically stated he does not support legalization of undocumented individuals, the inference is that Cruz must therefore support legalization of undocumented individuals. It's a nice little semantic game, really. MSNBC referenced a Texas Tribune article from 2013 which they claim indicates, "that he [Cruz] supported giving some undocumented immigrants permission to stay in the country with more limited legal status." This summation is not accurate. The Texas Tribune article, written around the time of the Gang of Eight immigration fight, makes the same incorrect assumption as MSNBC. The first statement is correct while the latter is only partially so:
When it comes to immigration reform, U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz has made it abundantly clear what he opposes: giving citizenship to people who broke the law to come here. What has not been as evident is what he supports: legal status for millions of people here already, while making it easier for immigrants to come here through the front door.

Posted by Kemberlee Kaye on March 26, 2015 47 Comments
Though he's yet to officially toss his hat in the ring, Governor Perry is quietly building out the framework for his 2016 run. Iowa is RickPAC's latest release. Governor Perry's message is markedly different from Senator Cruz's for reasons other than his west Texas drawl -- inclusion and experience. Senator Cruz formally launched his presidential bid in a fiery speech at Liberty University Monday. Though he's an undeniably passionate conservative, Cruz's message might not be the fit for everyone, though it's a lovely dream to have. More problematic is that this Conservatopia effectively marginalizes everyone who doesn't seize the vision. It's not an attractive ideal, rather a disappointingly exclusionary one. Cruz is pitching himself as a true conservative. Of his principles and dedication to the banner of conservatism, there's absolutely no question. Ted Cruz is a true believer in the purest sense. But trying to win the White House with only a faction of the conservative base and little to show in terms of tangible leadership results (other than the ability to rouse portions of the grassroots) are two obstacles Cruz will have to navigate around. Not to say either is unsurmountable, but they are unavoidable.

Posted by Mike LaChance on March 25, 2015 10 Comments
As you can probably imagine, Ted Cruz's announcement about his plans to run for president in 2016 brought out a whole new level of crazy from liberals in media and most of it was very ugly. The fine folks at Newsbusters have done a tremendous job chronicling the MSM reaction in words and video. Here are a few choice examples. From Jeffrey Meyer:
Donny Deutsch Attacks ‘Scary…Dangerous…Slimy’ Ted Cruz Appearing on MSNBC’s Morning Joe on Monday, Donny Deutsch viciously attacked Senator Ted Cruz (R-TX) following his announcement that he will be running for president, calling the Tea Party favorite “scary” and “dangerous.” After co-host Mika Brzezinski asked Erica Grieder of Texas Monthly about Cruz’s presidential prospects, Deutsch tore into the Republican senator and declared him “completely unelectable, obviously an interesting character and obviously he’ll have a place at the table but unelectable for a host of reasons.”
Here's the video: But wait, there's more....

Posted by Kemberlee Kaye on March 25, 2015 29 Comments
The man who garnered national attention by making himself Obamacare's arch nemesis is enrolling in the dastardly program one day into his presidential campaign. Previously covered by his wife's cadillac Goldman Sach's healthcare plan, Heidi Cruz's departure from the investment behemoth means the Cruz's will be looking to the exchange for their health insurance needs. Evidently, this is a story. "Man who hates Obamacare to enroll in Obamacare!!!!" "Hahahaha, it's sooooo ironic Cruz is like, enrolling in Obamacare!" "Cruz is enrolling in Obamacare?! What a hypocrite!" Who knew abiding by the the law was such a novel accomplishment that it warranted ink from every major news outlet? But that's what happened. Screen Shot 2015-03-25 at 2.56.49 AM  

Posted by Jay Caruso on March 24, 2015 35 Comments
Texas Senator Ted Cruz became the first "official" contender to announce he is running for the GOP presidential nomination in 2016. One of the more bizarre narratives to quickly form after Cruz made his announcement, has been the comparison between him and President Barack Obama. While there are some similarities --- both first term Senators, both graduates of Harvard, both are prone to more grandiose type speeches and both lacked executive experience, that's where the comparison really ends. However, there are some who arguing Ted Cruz being a first term Senator leads to him being a bad President, were he to win the nomination and ultimately the election in 2016. This accusation is not just being thrown around by random people on social media. It's appearing in Commentary Magazine. After listing a handful of points of comparison between Cruz and Obama the post concludes:
In short, Ted Cruz is not, except for his highly distinguished academic career and legal clerkships, dissimilar to the present incumbent of the White House. It seems to me that the last thing this country needs come January 20th, 2017, is a right-wing Barack Obama.
Charles Krauthammer made a similar point on Fox News during Special Report saying, "We already tried a first term Senator." 

Posted by Kemberlee Kaye on March 23, 2015 35 Comments
Shortly after midnight last night, Senator Ted Cruz announced his candidacy for President via Twitter. Today, Senator Cruz kicked off his presidential campaign at Liberty University. Of the many things I learned about Cruz in his 2012 Senatorial bid, one to keep in mind is that the man is nothing if not deliberate. Cruz gave a great speech (he never gives bad speeches), but his campaign launch was littered with several liberty-embellished easter eggs. The result? Some masterfully executed trolling.

Posted by Kemberlee Kaye on March 16, 2015 13 Comments
Yes, we have to do this... again. Perpetual media malpractice requires searchable rebuttals to even the dumbest of mistruths, like the latest one about Ted Cruz. Speaking to the Strafford County Republican Committee in New Hampshire yesterday, Cruz was critical of the administration saying, "the Obama-Clinton foreign policy of leading from behind... the whole world's on fire!" (managing to slide in a not so subtle Clinton dig). A little girl named Julia Trant was supposedly frightened by Cruz's statement and asked mid-speech, "The world is on fire?!" according to Adam Smith, political editor for the Tampa Bay Times, who attended the event. Senator Cruz took a moment from his speech to assure the little girl that Mommy was taking care of everything, "the world is on fire, yes! Your world is on fire. But you know what? Your mommy's here and everyone's here to make sure that the world you grow up in is even better." Ted Cruz has two young daughters of his own. The video was posted by Raw Story with the headline, "Ted Cruz scares the hell out of a terrified little girl in New Hampshire." CNN, New York Magazine, Bloomberg, Gawker, Salon and others had similar headlines. Ed Kilgore of Washington Monthly mused that Cruz was using coded language and really meant Obama is the anti-christ or at the very least, one of his minions. Because referencing a "world on fire" is clearly an anti-christ dog whistle. Yes, seriously.

Posted by Kemberlee Kaye on January 18, 2015 19 Comments
Why fix what you can abolish? The scandal-laden IRS has found itself a new adversary in Senator Cruz. Last week, Senator Cruz called for abolishing the IRS while joking that sending the agencies 110,000 employees to the Southern border was a better use of their time. Fox News reports:
Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) emphatically denounced the IRS this week in a Heritage Foundation speech, saying that that the agency doesn't need to be reformed, it needs to be "abolished." Now that Republicans control Congress, Cruz said the party must seize on the opportunity to simplify the tax code and make it fairer. “The last two years have fundamentally changed the dynamics of this debate [on the tax code],” he said. “As we have seen the weaponization of the IRS, as we have seen the Obama administration using the IRS in a partisan manner to punish its political enemies.”

Posted by William A. Jacobson on December 26, 2014 11 Comments
Ballotpedia lists the following Democrats (in alphabetical order) as potential 2016 presidential candidates: Joe Biden Hillary Clinton Andrew Cuomo Kirsten Gillibrand Amy Klobuchar Martin O'Malley Bernie Sanders Brian Schweitzer Party Mark Warner Elizabeth Warren Jim Webb My goodness.  Not much diversity there.  Actually, none. Mostly old white people, not that there's anything wrong with that, but considering the years of demagoguery from Democrats, it certainly is ironic. Republicans, by contrast have a diverse field, including four likely contenders who are "diverse" but eschew presenting themselves as hyphenated Americans or playing racial politics. Politico reports, Race and the race:
Bobby Jindal is Indian-American, but you’ll never hear him describe himself that way. Marco Rubio insists he’s an “American of Hispanic descent.” And Ted Cruz “certainly” identifies as Hispanic, but he didn’t run for office as “the Hispanic guy.” These Republican lawmakers, along with African-American conservative favorite Ben Carson, look poised to make the 2016 GOP presidential field the party’s most diverse ever. They are all mulling over White House runs as the GOP continues to struggle with minority voters and as racial tensions over police conduct have captivated the nation.

Posted by William A. Jacobson on December 13, 2014 14 Comments
The differing treatment of Ted Cruz and Elizabeth Warren pretty much sums up the state of implicit media bias. Compare these two headlines from The Hill regarding Warren's attempt to cajole the House into defeating the CRomnibus, with Ted Cruz's similar effort in the Senate. Warren made "her mark" and raised her presidential prospects: The Hill Elizabeth Warren Makes Her Mark
Sen. Elizabeth Warren’s crusade against the $1.1 trillion spending bill backed by the White House firmly establishes the Massachusetts populist as a powerful player in Washington. The freshman Democrat took on President Obama and her party’s leadership, and appeared to inspire an uprising in the House.... Peter Ubertaccio, a political science professor at Stonehill College in Massachusetts, who follows Warren’s career, said that this week, Warren demonstrated a better feel for the sentiments of her party than her leadership. “If she’s able to succeed in the Senate at the expense of her own leadership team — the team that she’s on — it will have the practical impact of moving the center of power away from folks like Schumer and toward her,” he said. “That’s pretty significant for a freshman senator that’s been brought into the leadership. It could also reverberate in the 2016 presidential race, which liberal Democrats are dying for Warren to enter as a rival to former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.
As for Cruz, according to the same author of the Warren post he's just the same old obstructionist firebrand he's always been:

Posted by William A. Jacobson on September 14, 2014 30 Comments
I only followed in passing the incident where Ted Cruz was booed off the stage at a gathering to support Christians in the Middle East after saying that Israel was the best friend Christians have in the Middle East. The Daily Caller reported:
Sen. Ted Cruz was booed offstage at a conference for Middle Eastern Christians Wednesday night after saying that “Christians have no greater ally than Israel.” Cruz, the keynote speaker at the sold-out D.C. dinner gala for the recently-founded non-profit In Defense of Christians, began by saying that “tonight, we are all united in defense of Christians. Tonight, we are all united in defense of Jews. Tonight, we are all united in defense of people of good faith, who are standing together against those who would persecute and murder those who dare disagree with their religious teachings.” Cruz was not reading from a teleprompter, nor did he appear to be reading from notes.
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