Author Topic: Iowa audience embraces Sen. Ted Cruz  (Read 4263 times)

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Offline happyg

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Iowa audience embraces Sen. Ted Cruz
« on: October 27, 2013, 01:45:15 am »
Conservative purist Ted Cruz addressed the concerns of any Iowa Republicans who reject him as too rigid, arguing he knows exactly how to unify the GOP and turn the country around.

The answer: “Restore historic economic growth.”

Cruz, a U.S. senator from Texas who has visited the presidential testing grounds of Iowa three times in less than three months, told an audience of about 600 at the Republican Party of Iowa’s annual Ronald Reagan fundraising dinner: “We need to come together.”

“And let me tell you, growth and principles are ideas that unify Republicans,” he said. “They are principles and ideals that unify the evangelical community, the liberty movement and the business community. Growth and freedom are principles that bring together Main Street and the tea party.”

Last month, Cruz kicked off a controversial campaign to stymie Obamacare, the federal law requiring most Americans to carry health insurance, with a 21-hour pseudo-filibuster. The battle between conservative and Democratic members of Congress led to a 16-day federal government shutdown and took the country to what some Americans considered an alarming near-default on its debts.

The Des Moines Register reported Friday that some Iowa Republicans believe Cruz is the embodiment of the war inside the GOP. They see him as the tip of the spear of anti-establishment rage that is tearing apart the coalition of Republicans that has existed since the Reagan era: fiscal conservatives, social conservatives and national security conservatives.

If Cruz were to run for president, his campaign might leave him with only the fiercest tea party defenders, in the view of center-right activists and some political strategists.

Cruz: United GOP can protect nation

In a 45-minute speech, Cruz said over and over that working “collectively” is the only way to protect the nation from those who want to impose health insurance mandates, pile on more national debt, assault gun rights and hurt other constitutional rights.

It was the GOP’s failure to stand together, he said, that killed the effort to defund Obamacare.

“We didn’t accomplish our ultimate policy goal in this battle, and we didn’t because unfortunately a significant number of Senate Republicans chose not to unite and stand side by side with House Republicans,” he said. “Had we stood together, I’m convinced the outcome of this fight would be very, very different. But listen, none of us ever thought that taking on the Washington establishment was going to be easy.”

He added: “Right now, I’m more encouraged than ever.”

As Cruz took the stage, the audience greeted him with a 36-second standing ovation.

“I promise that I’ll do everything humanly possible to try to speak for less than 21 hours,” he said, referring to his Sept. 24 Senate floor speech. “You know I’m nearing the end when I bring out and begin to read ‘The Cat in the Hat.’ ’’

Twenty-one hours, he said, is a long time.

“That’s almost as long as it takes to sign up on the Obamacare website,” he said. Healthcare.gov, a site meant to help millions of uninsured Americans sign up for health insurance, has been plagued by technical glitches.

Upset with leaders, some skip the event

When Cruz came to Iowa in July, he had his father, a Cuban immigrant, in tow. This time, his wife, Heidi, was by his side. He made repeated references to their two young daughters, Catherine and Caroline.

Some center-right Republicans skipped the traditional fundraising dinner to express distaste for both Cruz and the current liberty movement-oriented leadership at party headquarters.

Republican Party of Iowa Co-Chairman David Fischer referenced that rift in his opening remarks.

“There are some of the old guard in the Grand Old Party that frankly don’t approve of the kind of principled leadership being shown by the new conservative leaders like Sens. Cruz, (Rand) Paul and (Mike) Lee,” he said, referring to the conservative senators from Texas, Kentucky and Utah.

“Some Republicans have even gone so far as to call them names. Well, I have a name for these new leaders, too,” Fischer said. “I call them the future.”

Republicans describe the party’s fissure in different ways.

A center-right national strategist, Mike Murphy, has been talking this week about what he sees as two schools of thought in the GOP.

The “mathematicians” look at the GOP’s losing streak and say the party needs to make real changes to attract voters beyond the old Republican base of white guys, Murphy told the Washington Post.

The “priests” are focused on sins that the GOP is against, and they argue a lack of ideological purity is what loses elections, Murphy said.

Cruz scoffs at label of purist and priest

When the Register asked Cruz where he falls, he scoffed.

“I do always find it amusing that political strategists who manage to lose national elections immediately share their wisdom to others about how to continue losing national elections,” he said in an interview earlier in the week.

Politicians can be hybrids of the two categories — politics is about the spectrum, not the absolutes, center-right strategists say.

But not Cruz, Murphy told the Register in an email Friday night.

He’s a purist and a priest, Murphy said.

“It’s not a question of purity,” Cruz told the Register. “It’s a question of standing for common-sense conservative principles that are shared throughout this country that have been part of the American fabric of every small town and every small business and in families all across this country.”

Cruz said every modern Republican presidential candidate who ran as a strong conservative won — Nixon in 1968 and 1972, Reagan in 1980 and 1984, George H.W. Bush in 1988, George W. Bush in 2000 and 2004.

And those that ran as an establishment moderate lost — Ford in 1976, George H.W. Bush in 1992, Dole in 1996, McCain in 2008 and Romney in 2012, Cruz said.

“After looking at that 40-year pattern,” he said, “the D.C. strategists all say we need more establishment moderates because they haven’t won in four decades, but next time, trust us, they’re going to win. That’s not a pattern to electoral success.”

State chair resists watering down GOP

The Register interviewed 10 Republicans at the dinner, and each firmly agreed that division in the GOP means trouble.

“Political parties are designed to win elections. It’s the only reason they exist,” said Keith Christiansen, 18, a student at Grand View University in Des Moines. “You cannot control the government if your party is fighting amongst itself. The in-fighting is horrible.”

But the chairman of the Iowa GOP, A.J. Spiker, told the audience that conservatives at the right-most side of the spectrum aren’t budging.

“The Republican Party is at a crossroads to determine the type of party it wishes to be,” he said.

Those in “the permanent political establishment” who say it’s necessary to water down the GOP message to try to win elections, Spiker said, won’t succeed.

— Jennifer Jacobs
http://www.desmoinesregister.com/article/20131026/NEWS09/310260056/Iowa-audience-embraces-Sen-Ted-Cruz?Frontpage&nclick_check=1

Offline Rapunzel

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Re: Iowa audience embraces Sen. Ted Cruz
« Reply #1 on: October 27, 2013, 01:46:54 am »
Conservative purist

Wow...  what a start to the article.
�The time is now near at hand which must probably determine, whether Americans are to be, Freemen, or Slaves.� G Washington July 2, 1776

Offline happyg

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Re: Iowa audience embraces Sen. Ted Cruz
« Reply #2 on: October 27, 2013, 01:58:39 am »
Cruz is never at a loss for words because he knows and believes in what he says. I liked this quote:
Quote
“I do always find it amusing that political strategists who manage to lose national elections immediately share their wisdom to others about how to continue losing national elections,” he said in an interview earlier in the week.

Offline Bigun

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Re: Iowa audience embraces Sen. Ted Cruz
« Reply #3 on: October 27, 2013, 02:08:39 am »
Conservative purist

Wow...  what a start to the article.

It appears that the author is just a TAD bit biased!
"I wish it need not have happened in my time," said Frodo.

"So do I," said Gandalf, "and so do all who live to see such times. But that is not for them to decide. All we have to decide is what to do with the time that is given us."
- J. R. R. Tolkien

Offline Rapunzel

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Re: Iowa audience embraces Sen. Ted Cruz
« Reply #4 on: October 27, 2013, 02:09:52 am »
Cruz is never at a loss for words because he knows and believes in what he says. I liked this quote:

He is correct.   It was Wilkow who explained how the "consultants" (like Rove) really do not care if the person they are pushing is going to be good at doing their job for the people they want to elect them, all they care about is how deep are the candidates pockets.  Think Rove supporting Mike Castle in DE... deep pockets... as a result these consultants are not in it for an idiology, they are only in it for the glory and the money.  (Another reason to get The Blaze - Wilkow is so intelligent and such a breath of fresh air to hear his interviews).
�The time is now near at hand which must probably determine, whether Americans are to be, Freemen, or Slaves.� G Washington July 2, 1776

Offline Rapunzel

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Re: Iowa audience embraces Sen. Ted Cruz
« Reply #5 on: October 27, 2013, 02:10:23 am »
It appears that the author is just a TAD bit biased!

~LOL~ and not even attempting to hide her bias.
�The time is now near at hand which must probably determine, whether Americans are to be, Freemen, or Slaves.� G Washington July 2, 1776

Offline sinkspur

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Re: Iowa audience embraces Sen. Ted Cruz
« Reply #6 on: October 27, 2013, 02:38:33 am »
Who here actually believes that Ted Cruz, with approval ratings in the low 20s, could possibly win a national election? 

Ronald Reagan won Democrats and Independents, neither of which want anything to do with Cruz.

Ted Cruz makes the far right feel good and they extrapolate their ecstasy onto the rest of the population.

Cruz's shutdown of the government drove a stake through the heart of any national candidacy.  He's as divisive as Barack Obama.
Roy Moore's "spiritual warfare" is driving past a junior high without stopping.

Offline happyg

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Re: Iowa audience embraces Sen. Ted Cruz
« Reply #7 on: October 27, 2013, 02:42:50 am »
September 27, 2013 Raleigh, N.C. – PPP's newest national poll finds Ted Cruz is now the top choice of Republican primary voters to be their candidate for President in 2016. He leads the way with 20% to 17% for Rand Paul, 14% for Chris Christie, 11% for Jeb Bush, 10% each for Marco Rubio and Paul Ryan, 4% for Bobby Jindal, and 3% each for Rick Santorum and Scott Walker.

Cruz has gained 8 points since our last national 2016 poll in July while everyone else has more or less stayed in place. He's made himself the face of a government shutdown over Obamacare, and the Republican base supports that by a 64/20 margin. It's not surprising that Republicans identifying as 'very conservative' support a shutdown 75/10, but even the moderate wing of the party supports it by a 46/36 margin.

http://www.publicpolicypolling.com/main/ted-cruz/

Offline Rapunzel

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Re: Iowa audience embraces Sen. Ted Cruz
« Reply #8 on: October 27, 2013, 02:45:55 am »
Conservatives make up 40% of the voting population. Liberals make up 20%.  Pit a conservative against a flaming liberal (Hillary) and the conservative voters will turn out in droves.
�The time is now near at hand which must probably determine, whether Americans are to be, Freemen, or Slaves.� G Washington July 2, 1776

Offline happyg

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Re: Iowa audience embraces Sen. Ted Cruz
« Reply #9 on: October 27, 2013, 02:51:55 am »
Ted Cruz Dominates Republican Straw Poll

Considered early predictor of party's next choice for president

By Noah Rayman Oct. 13, 2013122 Comments

Senator Ted Cruz of Texas won by double digits a straw poll conducted by the conservative Family Research Council Action that is considered an early predictor of the next Republican choice for president.

Cruz won the Values Voter Summit straw poll Saturday night with 42 percent of votes, more than three times runner-ups Ben Carson, a neurosurgeon and Fox News contributor,  and Senator Rick Santorum. The vote is a strong endorsement from conservatives for the Texas senator’s combative stance against the White House.

Cruz has been a leading lawmaker seeking to delay or defund the Affordable Care Act.

Republican senators Rand Paul and Marco Rubio came in fourth and fifth, respectively.

[The Washington Post]


Read more: http://swampland.time.com/2013/10/13/ted-cruz-dominates-republican-straw-poll/#ixzz2it3if9BJ   


« Last Edit: October 27, 2013, 02:52:36 am by happyg »

Offline sinkspur

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Re: Iowa audience embraces Sen. Ted Cruz
« Reply #10 on: October 27, 2013, 03:06:29 am »
Conservatives make up 40% of the voting population. Liberals make up 20%.  Pit a conservative against a flaming liberal (Hillary) and the conservative voters will turn out in droves.

You assume that all conservatives will unite behind Ted Cruz.

I won't.  I'd support a more level-headed conservative like Rand Paul before Cruz.  I notice Paul is within the margin of error, basically tied with Cruz in the PPP poll. 

The all-important Independents are NOT Cruz supporters.  And, unless Cruz gets some Democrats, he simply cannot win.
Roy Moore's "spiritual warfare" is driving past a junior high without stopping.

Offline Rapunzel

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Re: Iowa audience embraces Sen. Ted Cruz
« Reply #11 on: October 27, 2013, 03:08:37 am »
You assume that all conservatives will unite behind Ted Cruz.

I won't.  I'd support a more level-headed conservative like Rand Paul before Cruz.  I notice Paul is within the margin of error, basically tied with Cruz in the PPP poll. 

The all-important Independents are NOT Cruz supporters.  And, unless Cruz gets some Democrats, he simply cannot win.

You are not a conservative so of course you will vote for the establishment politician in any race, which is your perogative... just as it is mine to vote or the Constitutional/fiscal conservative.
�The time is now near at hand which must probably determine, whether Americans are to be, Freemen, or Slaves.� G Washington July 2, 1776

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Re: Iowa audience embraces Sen. Ted Cruz
« Reply #12 on: October 27, 2013, 03:09:15 am »
You assume that all conservatives will unite behind Ted Cruz.

I won't.  I'd support a more level-headed conservative like Rand Paul before Cruz.  I notice Paul is within the margin of error, basically tied with Cruz in the PPP poll. 

The all-important Independents are NOT Cruz supporters.  And, unless Cruz gets some Democrats, he simply cannot win.

That's because you're not a conservative, of any stripe.

Offline sinkspur

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Re: Iowa audience embraces Sen. Ted Cruz
« Reply #13 on: October 27, 2013, 03:09:51 am »
Ted Cruz Dominates Republican Straw Poll

Considered early predictor of party's next choice for president

By Noah Rayman Oct. 13, 2013122 Comments

Senator Ted Cruz of Texas won by double digits a straw poll conducted by the conservative Family Research Council Action that is considered an early predictor of the next Republican choice for president.

Cruz won the Values Voter Summit straw poll Saturday night with 42 percent of votes, more than three times runner-ups Ben Carson, a neurosurgeon and Fox News contributor,  and Senator Rick Santorum. The vote is a strong endorsement from conservatives for the Texas senator’s combative stance against the White House.

Cruz has been a leading lawmaker seeking to delay or defund the Affordable Care Act.

Republican senators Rand Paul and Marco Rubio came in fourth and fifth, respectively.

[The Washington Post]
A straw poll of Family Research Council adherents is indicative of nothing.  Does anybody here believe that Ben Carson and Rick Santorum are actually serious candidates for President? 


Read more: http://swampland.time.com/2013/10/13/ted-cruz-dominates-republican-straw-poll/#ixzz2it3if9BJ
[/quote]
« Last Edit: October 27, 2013, 03:10:30 am by sinkspur »
Roy Moore's "spiritual warfare" is driving past a junior high without stopping.

Offline Rapunzel

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Re: Iowa audience embraces Sen. Ted Cruz
« Reply #14 on: October 27, 2013, 03:11:51 am »
and Rand Paul is a 'Libertarian-leaning conservative."  I also recall you absolutely pilloried him when he was running for the senate and did not think he stood a change of winning the election after he had won the primary.  I could be wrong but I "suspect" your current new-found support for him is because he endorsed your guy in KY - Mitch McConnell.
�The time is now near at hand which must probably determine, whether Americans are to be, Freemen, or Slaves.� G Washington July 2, 1776

Offline sinkspur

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Re: Iowa audience embraces Sen. Ted Cruz
« Reply #15 on: October 27, 2013, 03:12:10 am »
You are not a conservative so of course you will vote for the establishment politician in any race, which is your perogative... just as it is mine to vote or the Constitutional/fiscal conservative.

I am a conservative.  You are a far right tea partier.  There's a difference.

Rand Paul is establishment now?  LOL!!!

You've gone round the bend Rap.
Roy Moore's "spiritual warfare" is driving past a junior high without stopping.

Offline sinkspur

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Re: Iowa audience embraces Sen. Ted Cruz
« Reply #16 on: October 27, 2013, 03:14:07 am »
That's because you're not a conservative, of any stripe.

And you, my friend, don't know jack.

You, like Rap, think the tea party is mainstream conservatism.  It's not.  Anyone who would shutdown the government over a fool's errand like defunding Obamacare is a taco short of a combination plate.
Roy Moore's "spiritual warfare" is driving past a junior high without stopping.

Offline Rapunzel

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Re: Iowa audience embraces Sen. Ted Cruz
« Reply #17 on: October 27, 2013, 03:14:42 am »
I am a conservative.  You are a far right tea partier.  There's a difference.

Rand Paul is establishment now?  LOL!!!

You've gone round the bend Rap.

I'm being exceedingly polite to you so don't start with the ad hominems on this thread.  And yes, I do support the Tea Party. So does Mystery and R4 the owners of this site as well as at least half or more the members here. 

As for who I will or will not support in 2016 ask me in 3 years... I'm not weighing in on any one candidate right now, but I like both Cruz and Paul...
�The time is now near at hand which must probably determine, whether Americans are to be, Freemen, or Slaves.� G Washington July 2, 1776

Offline Rapunzel

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Re: Iowa audience embraces Sen. Ted Cruz
« Reply #18 on: October 27, 2013, 03:15:54 am »

 

  Anyone who would shutdown the government over a fool's errand like defunding Obamacare is a taco short of a combination plate.

and that comment is what makes me think there is more to your dislike of Cruz than you are willing to admit - maybe even to yourself.
�The time is now near at hand which must probably determine, whether Americans are to be, Freemen, or Slaves.� G Washington July 2, 1776

Offline sinkspur

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Re: Iowa audience embraces Sen. Ted Cruz
« Reply #19 on: October 27, 2013, 03:16:48 am »
and Rand Paul is a 'Libertarian-leaning conservative."  I also recall you absolutely pilloried him when he was running for the senate and did not think he stood a change of winning the election after he had won the primary.  I could be wrong but I "suspect" your current new-found support for him is because he endorsed your guy in KY - Mitch McConnell.

Yes I did pillory Rand Paul. But he's the sane conservative in a room full of nutburgers iike Cruz and Mike Lee.

Elections are not won on ideology. They're also won on style, and Rand Paul was careful not to be a front-man for defunding Obamacare. 

That's the difference between a careful politician and a zealot.
Roy Moore's "spiritual warfare" is driving past a junior high without stopping.

Offline sinkspur

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Re: Iowa audience embraces Sen. Ted Cruz
« Reply #20 on: October 27, 2013, 03:20:47 am »
I'm being exceedingly polite to you so don't start with the ad hominems on this thread.  And yes, I do support the Tea Party. So does Mystery and R4 the owners of this site as well as at least half or more the members here. 

As for who I will or will not support in 2016 ask me in 3 years... I'm not weighing in on any one candidate right now, but I like both Cruz and Paul...

Do not threaten me with your army of owners and moderators.  I really don't care who supports who here.   It remains to be seen if the tea party will be a significant force in 2014, especially since a large contingent of business interests--with deep pockets--want nothing to do with Ted Cruz.

Unless Cruz figures out how to bridge the gap so that he can unite conservatives and Republicans, he's road kill in 2016.
Roy Moore's "spiritual warfare" is driving past a junior high without stopping.

Offline happyg

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Re: Iowa audience embraces Sen. Ted Cruz
« Reply #21 on: October 27, 2013, 03:21:30 am »
Quote
I'm being exceedingly polite to you so don't start with the ad hominems on this thread.  And yes, I do support the Tea Party. So does Mystery and R4 the owners of this site as well as at least half or more the members here. 

As for who I will or will not support in 2016 ask me in 3 years... I'm not weighing in on any one candidate right now, but I like both Cruz and Paul...

I agree with all you posted. I don't consider the Tea Party far right, but fiscally responsible. Anyone less than that is a moderate.

Offline sinkspur

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Re: Iowa audience embraces Sen. Ted Cruz
« Reply #22 on: October 27, 2013, 03:22:16 am »
and that comment is what makes me think there is more to your dislike of Cruz than you are willing to admit - maybe even to yourself.

It's an expression.  OK, if you think I meant something racial, he's several floors short of an elevator ride to the top.

How's that?
Roy Moore's "spiritual warfare" is driving past a junior high without stopping.

Offline Rapunzel

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Re: Iowa audience embraces Sen. Ted Cruz
« Reply #23 on: October 27, 2013, 03:24:16 am »
It's an expression.  OK, if you think I meant something racial, he's several floors short of an elevator ride to the top.

How's that?

Considering that he is an exceedingly accomplished and brilliant man the comment is without merit.
�The time is now near at hand which must probably determine, whether Americans are to be, Freemen, or Slaves.� G Washington July 2, 1776

Oceander

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Re: Iowa audience embraces Sen. Ted Cruz
« Reply #24 on: October 27, 2013, 03:25:53 am »
And you, my friend, don't know jack.

You, like Rap, think the tea party is mainstream conservatism.  It's not.  Anyone who would shutdown the government over a fool's errand like defunding Obamacare is a taco short of a combination plate.

/snicker

Actually, I don't.  But you wouldn't know that because you don't pay attention to what people post; you simply set up strawmen with their avatars taped on and tilt after those instead.

Since I like hitting my head against proverbial brick walls, I'll say it for the hundredth time:  if you stopped paying attention to your own preconceptions and started paying attention to reality, you'd be a lot wiser.