This profile is a part of a series of profiles on major presidential candidates for the 2016 election.
Background
On March 23rd, 2015, Senator Ted Cruz of Texas formally announced that he would run for the Republican presidential nomination in the 2016 Election in a speech at Liberty University in Lynchburg, Virginia. He is the first major candidate to declare himself as a presidential candidate.
Ted Cruz was elected Senator of Texas in 2012. He serves on the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation, the Committee on Armed Services, the Committee on the Judiciary, the Joint Economic Committee, and the Committee on Rules and Administration.
Before elected as Senator, he was the domestic policy advisor to former President George Bush during the 2000 Bush-Cheney campaign and the Solicitor General of Texas.
Credit: Wikimedia Commons
Political Views
Ted Cruz is a strong critic of the Patient Protection and the Affordable Care Act, otherwise known as ObamaCare. Ted Cruz has called ObamaCare “a disaster” and said it keeps the government “between you and your doctor”. In February, he introduced a bill to fully repeal ObamaCare. He had previously introduced the repeal legislation as his first bill as senator in 2013. Later that year, the senator delivered a 21 hour long speech against the Affordable Care Act. During his long speech, Senator Cruz mentioned “Duck Dynasty”, “a show about a god-fearing family of successful entrepreneurs who love guns, who love to hunt, and who believe in the American dream.” Lastly, he is widely credited for contributing to the shut down the government in 2013 in an effort to defund ObamaCare.
Furthermore, Ted Cruz wants to abolish the Internal Revenue Service (IRS). Instead, he wants a flat tax system, where everyone will file their taxes “on a postcard”. Others, including Steve Forbes, have brought up this idea before. However, this idea hasn’t acquired enough support so far among the American public.
Concerning his policy stance on Iran, Senator Cruz is a hard-liner who believes in taking strong actions to ensure that Iran does not have nuclear weapon capability, which he believes threatens the safety of the United States and its allies.
He was one of 47 Senate Republicans who penned a letter in early March addressed to Iranian leadership warning that any deal created “that is not approved by the Congress” could be overturned once Obama leaves office in 2017. Later that month, Senator Cruz introduced a bill to reinstate sanctions cut back by President Obama and expand the sanctions against Iran. His bill would also obstruct the funding of the negotiations without Congress’s approval and require Iran to condemn state-sponsored terrorism. Lastly, it includes how Iran can have their sanctions lifted by taking steps like dismantling its nuclear program and ending the research and development of its Intercontinental Ballistic Missile program.
He is against President Obama’s recent deal with Iran and said, “The longer the Obama administration stays at the negotiating table with Iran, the more concessions it makes.”
Other issues that he supports are protecting Second Amendment rights, opposing same-sex marriage, and “repealing every word of the Common Core”.
Advantages of Cruz’s Candidacy
There is an advantage for Senator Cruz for becoming the first major candidate. Those briefed on Senator Cruz’s strategy say he entered the race early in order to recover the the attention of Tea Party conservatives, which will help him in a campaign targeting right wing politicians and evangelical Christians. He additionally needs to obtain more Republican donors, seeing as many are pouring their money to other potential and running Republican candidates, such as Governor Scott Walker of Wisconsin and former Governor Jeb Bush of Florida.
To some, Senator Cruz is known for his rhetorical skills, which surpass those of other Republican candidates. Senator Cruz is also known to be an excellent debater, a reputation that has followed him since his days at Princeton.
Ted Cruz has been criticized for his lack of experience because he is only a first-time senator. On CNN’s State of the Union, he responded to those claims by saying that he used his short experience in the Senate effectively.“In my time in the Senate, you can accuse me of being a lot of things, but a back-bencher is not one of them.” Ted Cruz will seek the Republican nomination by showing that he is the most conservative and boldest candidate, which will help him in a party that has become influenced by a more doctrinaire form of conservatism.
His fundraising goal for the first week he announced his candidacy was $1 million – which was more than achieved with him receiving $2 million by Thursday night of that week. In the eight days since officially declaring his presidential bid, Ted Cruz raised $4 million. In early April, four super PACs supporting the senator raised $31 million in one week. Some of his donors are heavyweights who make huge super PAC contributions.
Disadvantages of Cruz’s Candidacy
There is a major public perception that the senator says, “No,” too much. On Fox News, Megyn Kelly pointed out that he has fought against certain issues, like ObamaCare, but as president, he couldn’t just try to proposals – he would also have to actively push policies through and help create consensus.For a general election, Ted Cruz will find difficulty appealing to centrist voters.
His speech at Liberty University created a new upheaval of stinging barbs and mockery ranging from his usage of the word “imagine” repetitively to his “third-person autobiography”, as political satirist Jon Stewart commented. Senator Cruz has been criticized by all sides of the political spectrum, even by members of his own party. Many are not taking his campaign seriously and question his experience. For example, in his three years in office as a lawmaker, he has sponsored or co-sponsored 112 legislation pieces, with only one becoming law.
In the typical manner of presidential candidate critics, Ted Cruz’s citizenship is being questioned by the public and prominent figures like Donald Trump. This is nothing new. President Obama‘s and John McCain’s citizenships were also questioned. Ted Cruz was born in Canada, which has sparked questions concerning whether he is eligible to run or not. Even though he was born in Canada, he was raised in Houston, Texas. The Constitution contains only three requirements for presidential candidates: the candidate has to be at least 35 years of age, a resident of the United States for at least 14 years, and a “natural born citizen”. People have been raising questions about what it means to be a “natural born citizen”. The Congressional Research Service’s report in 2011 supports Senator Cruz’s eligibility claim, so he is indeed a natural-born citizen.
A significant amount of his funding comes from grassroots conservatives. The Washington Post reported that, “Cruz will most likely rely heavily on small-dollar donations rather than big checks from the wealthy donors who tend to back establishment candidates. The goal of the Cruz campaign is to bring in $40 million over the next year. That haul will most likely be dwarfed by the big bucks expected to be raised by former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush, Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker, and possibly Sen. Rand Paul of Kentucky. Cruz, however, is confident that he can compete with the other candidates.
Republican Party’s Views on Senator Cruz
Stalwart supporters of Ted Cruz include some Tea Party conservatives, but he fails to maintain strong relationships with other members of his political party. Frank Luntz, a Republican pollster and political strategist, remarked that, “His colleagues really don’t like him, and it’s very difficult when your own colleagues won’t stand up for you. There’s a subtle message that there is something wrong.” Members of his own party have not held back in their own disapproval of him, for example, Representative Peter. T King of New York denounced Senator Cruz for bring the country “to the edge of ruin.” when he helped shut down the government. Lastly, some Tea Party conservatives favor other candidates because they see them as more viable and likely to win, such as Senator Rand Paul of Kentucky.
Approval Ratings
Check out this poll to see how Senator Cruz fares against other potential and confirmed Republican candidates. The poll shows the likelihood of Republican nomination.
Interesting Facts
Senator Cruz has argued before the Supreme Court 9 times and has authored more than 80 Supreme Court briefs. He has also worn his “argument boots” to the Supreme Court – a pair of cowboy boots that he received permission to wear before the high court.
He loves video games and watching films. His favorite film is “The Princess Bride”.
He once asked another Harvard law student, Melissa Hart, for her I.Q. score. She replied saying that she didn’t know. He then asked, “Well, what’s your S.A.T. score? That’s closely correlated with your I.Q.”