Posted on 09/08/2014 1:36:13 PM PDT by SeekAndFind
A complement to Friday’s post on Jeb Bush. I don’t know how I convinced myself that Cruz probably wouldn’t run, but I did. I think it was a combination of his age, his short tenure in the Senate, and the political damage he suffered from the shutdown (which he’s still trying to undo). Those first two are weak arguments, though. A young nominee is arguably just what the doctor ordered for the GOP against the Clinton dinosaurs, and The One proved that being a Senate newbie is no bar to the presidency. Cruz will have spent as much time there by 2016 as Obama had spent by 2008.
The shutdown is a more serious obstacle but most of Cruz’s rivals in the 2016 GOP field, especially on the right, have heavy baggage they’ll need to somehow unload too. Rubio has an amnesty problem; Rand Paul, increasingly, has a non-interventionism problem; and Scott Walker has a might-actually-lose-his-reelection problem. Being seen as responsible for the 2013 shutdown is, if anything, probably an asset in the GOP’s conservative mini-primary, and if Cruz can emerge from that, he’ll face one of two flawed candidates in Jeb, who’ll suffer from the electorate’s Bush fatigue, or Christie, who’ll somehow have to manage Bridgegate and his own irascible demeanor. If you’re Cruz, why not take your chances?
His smarts and rhetorical skill earned him a Senate seat in a state full of powerful, ambitious conservatives before his 42nd birthday. A guy in that position must be convinced that he can talk himself, at the very least, into being the GOP’s presidential nominee. Plus, six years after the tea-party movement was born, it’s high time they had a serious candidate in the field whom they can endorse full-throatedly.
(Excerpt) Read more at hotair.com ...
If the lazy Democrats ever get around to reading Ted Cruz’s biography he’ll be pretty much the only one they attack.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ted_Cruz
Correct me if I'm wrong?
Remember how the media trashed Palin, and it pretty much stuck, she’s a great patriot, but not electable with the mindless majorIty
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.