Cruz is All About That Base
Now that Texas Sen. Ted Cruz has thrown his cowboy hat into the ring for president, it's time to start handicapping the candidates, even if some of us may wish that we had more choices.
That's OK, my fellow Americans. You vote for -- or against -- the choices that you have. Do you hear me, progressive-wing Democrats who are begging Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren to challenge Hillary Clinton?
Yes, Clinton, who hasn't run for any office since 2008, could use the competition to sharpen her pitch. But nobody on the left appears to be ready, viable or well-funded enough to take her on. So let's focus on the elephants, whose herd of presidential wannabes seems to grow larger by the day.
In the past, I have predicted yet another Bush vs. Clinton race in 2016, as in Jeb vs. Hillary. I'm still sticking to that prediction. I also caution that eight years ago at this time I, like many others, was predicting a Hillary Clinton vs. Rudy Giuliani ballot.
That's why I am not going to rule out any dark horse. The unpredictability of the American voter reigns supreme, reassuring us all that big money, strategists and spin-doctors have not completely taken over the process.
Cruz is noteworthy for setting the terms of debate within the party as they try to return to the White House after eight years out of office -- and after losing the popular vote in five of the last six presidential elections.
To paraphrase a popular rock tune, Cruz is all about that base -- the Grand Old Party's conservative base.
In announcing his campaign at Liberty University -- founded by the late Rev. Jerry Falwell, a leader in the rise of the religious right as a political force in the 1980s -- Cruz declared his own war against the "mushy middle." That's his shot at the pragmatic conservatives who favor former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush, whose record only looks moderate next to hardliners like Cruz.
Of course, what Cruz denounces as the "mushy middle" is what most people would call a "winning majority."
By setting his kickoff at Liberty University, Cruz surprised many Republicans because he had not previously presented himself as a socially or religiously conservative like Mike Huckabee or Rick Santorum.
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