Posted on 03/24/2015 8:41:50 AM PDT by SoConPubbie
You could call him the Texas Reagan.
Texas Senator Ted Cruz is announcing today that he is a candidate for president.
The announcement will come in a speech at Liberty University, the famous Virginia school founded by the late Rev. Jerry Falwell. There will be no exploratory committee, with Cruz moving straight to an announcement of candidacy. This will make the Texas son of a Cuban immigrant and one-time star of Harvard Law School the first officially declared candidate for the 2016 Republican presidential nomination.
In a conversation with The American Spectator, Cruz made it plain that he intends to pursue a 21st-century version of the insurgency strategy pioneered by the late Ronald Reagan. Bringing together the Reagan wing of the GOP that is composed of national security, social, pro-growth, and libertarian conservatives. The Reagan coalition broadened the base of the party to bring in everyone from evangelicals to women to union workers to Latinos. Reagans nomination battles in both 1976 (when he almost defeated GOP Establishment favorite and sitting president Gerald Ford) and 1980 (when he defeated Establishment favorite George H.W. Bush) summoned a virtual army of supporters who had previously never spent a day in politics.
This would be well in keeping with Cruzs record in the Senate, where Cruz has stood in decidedly Reagan-style against the Republican Washington Establishment, notably with his bold plan to defund Obamacare in 2013. That line-in-the-sand tactic, something Reagan used repeatedly as candidate and president to draw a bright red line between Republicans and Democrats, was furiously assaulted by many of Cruzs Republican Senate colleagues and most of the Establishment GOP, with some GOP senators going out of their way to deliberately sabotage the Cruz effort to defund the highly unpopular mandatory health program.
(Excerpt) Read more at spectator.org ...
In the eyes of certain FReepers, Reagan was a RINO - he cut and ran from Lebanon, gave amnesty to illegals, raised taxes and waged the War On Drugs. In their eyes, HES JUST NOT GOOD ENOUGH.
In the eyes of certain FReepers, Jesus Christ was a RINO - He befriended and forgave tax collectors, advised people to pay their taxes to the government, and consorted with known prostitutes. In their eyes, HES JUST NOT GOOD ENOUGH.
This explains why we ended up with Bishop Willard from Planet Kolob as the GOPe nominee in 2012 - because in the case of every conservative candidate, the cry went out: YOUR GUYS JUST NOT GOOD ENOUGH.
The FReepers Definition of Conservative: I'm not sure, but whatever it is, it sure as hell aint YOU!!!
And as Chuck Schumer pointed out, "We're United. You're Not."
Well that and the fact that Mediocre Mitt had all the dough. That’s still the primary factor I think.
Grassroors was the key for Reagan and it it the only way to go for Cruz. I think he gets that having said he intends to make his case directly to the American people.
Agreed. But Cruz can’t do it alone. We have to get up off our duffs and do the work.
Cruz was never a union boss.
It's not complicated. You're overthinking it.
Ouch!
See post 26.
Already signed up as a volunteer and making monthly contributions.
Okay.
That could be said of many aspects of their lives. Cruz is not another Reagan because Cruz was never a Democrat... But your comment seems to imply that Cruz is somehow less than Reagan simply because he is a lawyer and Reagan wasn't. If that is your point, then why not make it plainly? And if that is not your point, then what is the point, other than to point out that no two people are exactly the same?
Cruz is not another Reagan because Cruz was never a Democrat...
Good point!
Your comments inspired me to read over the biographies of Cruz and Reagan.
Turns out, their backgrounds and careers have nothing in common at all.
Certainly correct.
Reagan was not a lawyer, did not go to Ivy League schools, served in the US military, and worked in the private sector several decades before going into politics.
To me that is a great resume.
The only common threads between Reagan and Cruz are their conservative views of government (less is better, Constitution is supreme, strong national defense), their faith in the American people, their positive approach, and their determination and ability to talk over the MSM directly to the people, rather than let the MSM control and distort their message.
Now whether Cruz can be as good as Reagan was at this remains to be seen.
Who knows — he may be better.
Reagan was a good man and a great man — but he wasn’t any kind of intellectual giant.
That was his strength I believe.
He truly was a “common man” who rose to the top.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.