Ted Cruz in Iowa: 2016 force or flavor of the month? ("in search of the next Sarah Palin")

The Politico ^ | October 25, 2013 | Maggie Haberman

[2ndDivisionVet]

Sen. Ted Cruz will give the keynote speech Friday night at Iowa’s Reagan Dinner, riding a wave of attention and sudden celebrity that’s shot him to the top of the pack in the extremely early 2016 sweepstakes.

The early comparison some activists are making is to Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.), who hung back during the government shutdown and, by comparison, looked more reasonable to some of his party’s leadership and donors.

But 2012 was the cycle of the rise-and-fall candidate with a base in search of the next Sarah Palin. Any number of anti-Mitt Romneys crashed about as quickly as they took off — Herman Cain, Michele Bachmann, Newt Gingrich, Rick Santorum and Rick Perry. The question for Cruz is whether he can sustain his current trajectory — burning bright and fast — without burning out for another two years, until the Iowa caucuses.

Cruz has left little doubt he’s considering a presidential run in private conversations with GOP elite. And despite the damage to his party caused by the government shutdown — which Cruz, as the leader of the damn-the-torpedoes strategy to defund Obamacare, was seen as largely responsible for — the Texan is riding higher than ever with the activist base....

[2ndDivisionVet]

He's a US Senator from a large state, was that state's solicitor general, and clerked for William Rehnquist, Chief Justice of the United States. While at Harvard Law, Cruz was a primary editor of the Harvard Law Review, and executive editor of the Harvard Journal of Law and Public Policy, and a founding editor of the Harvard Latino Law Review. Referring to Cruz's time as a student at Harvard Law, Professor Alan Dershowitz said, "Cruz was off-the-charts brilliant." He's been a US Attorney and advised the Bush people before and after the contentious 2000 election, including winning the legal battles in Florida against Al Gore and the Democrats. Wouldn't all that make him "GOP elite" himself, by definition?

[Viennacon]

Man of the people, flagstone to steeple.

[Whenifhow]

44:24 Minutes
•Ted Cruz • Iowa Republican Party Ronald Reagan Dinner • 10-25-2013 •

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G4vyfIrN_cY

[LALALAW]

Palin Cruz 2016

[Greetings_Puny_Humans]

There aren’t any other leaders in the GOP at this time. Rand Paul is a bit too effeminate. Mitt Romney types were greatly damaged when Mitt failed to take the Presidency. Conservatives will not tolerate another quisling to become the party’s nominee. This guarantees either Ted Cruz himself, or Sarah Palin, if they so decide, to win the nomination.

If I had money to bet, and a place to bet it, I would put my money on Cruz being our nominee.

[2ndDivisionVet]

Somehow you forgot John McCain, Lindsey Graham, Jon Huntsman and Chris Christie! [snort]

[SoConPubbie]

Ted Cruz Ping!

If you want on/off this ping list, please let me know.

Please beware, this is a high-volume ping list!

[carjic]

I second that!! Palin Cruz 2016

[tflabo]

I don’t third that... Cruz/Palin is more like it.

[dsrtsage]

“If I had money to bet, and a place to bet it, I would put my money on Cruz being our nominee.”

The media clearly wants either Krispy Christy or Jeb Bush, so that is who we are going to get.

[SoConPubbie]

The media clearly wants either Krispy Christy or Jeb Bush, so that is who we are going to get.

Don't count on it.

[jimfree]

I'll go with Leader of the Month. It's true he needs to keep it up but he's doing it so far.

[isthisnickcool]

I like Sarah Palin. I have met her and Cruz. Cruz is pretty damn close to the character Will Hunting in the movie Good Will Hunting. The guy is “scary smart”. I’ve been around John McCain several times, a guy like Cruz bugs the hell out of McCain and I suspect Graham too. They cannot match him brain for brain. They play checkers and Cruz is playing 3-D chess. Cruz would have destroyed Obama in any debate easily. Cruz would destroy 99.9% of anyone in a political debate.

His demeanour is another thing. The guy cannot be ruffled. This bugs journalists who have the same problem with his intellect too.

[2ndDivisionVet]

Cruz attended high school at Faith West Academy in Katy, Texas,[26] and later graduated from Second Baptist High School in Houston as valedictorian in 1988.[11] During high school, Cruz participated in a Houston-based group called the Free Market Education Foundation where Cruz learned about free-market economic philosophers such as Milton Friedman, Friedrich Hayek, Frédéric Bastiat and Ludwig von Mises.[20] The program was run by Rolland Storey and Cruz entered the program at the age of 13.[18]

Cruz graduated cum laude from Princeton University with a Bachelor of Arts from the Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs in 1992.[1][4] While at Princeton, he competed for the American Whig-Cliosophic Society’s Debate Panel and won the top speaker award at both the 1992 U.S. National Debating Championship and the 1992 North American Debating Championship.[27] In 1992, he was named U.S. National Speaker of the Year and Team of the Year (with his debate partner, David Panton).[27] Cruz was also a semi-finalist at the 1995 World Universities Debating Championship.[28]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ted_Cruz

[humblegunner]

And he ain’t scared of frivolous lawsuits, either.

[GailA]

Either Sen Lee or Dr. Ben Carson! NO DAMN RINOS!

[Patriot Babe]

Not if we can help it =)

[Patriot Babe]

Remember Joe “Plugs” Biden wants to run so that would be interesting no doubt Ted Cruz will crush him in the debate.

[Jane Long]

Thanks for posting the link to Ted’s Iowa Reagan Dinner speech...was hoping someone would, when I read the thread’s first sentence :)

[erod]

I think Cruz has some serious staying power as long as he fights for what’s right, he will have an excellent shot at becoming the nominee for POTUS. I liked Sarah Palin, but unfortunately she didn’t run and I think that did the conservative base some serious harm in 2012. I pray Ted Cruz runs, if he wants to fight, conservatives can fight with him.