Category Archives: Ted Cruz

Quiet Cruz



Republican presidential candidate Ted Cruz passed quietly through Manhattan’s Upper East Side today, attending a closed-press campaign event at the Metropolitan Republican Club.  Accompanied by his wife Heidi, Cruz spent just over an hour with an audience of about 100-150 people.

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Cruz has been attacking Mayor Bill de Blasio during the primary, running ads declaring that de Blasio is “tearing this City apart”, but those tears were not readily apparent on a beautiful sunny morning a short walk from de Blasio’s mayoral residence.  Arriving close to 20 minutes ahead of his scheduled speaking time, Cruz’s leisurely car unloading drew a few beeping car horns and prompted a woman to get out of her car and shout for Cruz’s car to move.  That slight bit of normal city friction was as dramatic as the scene became; no protesters appeared and only four identifiable members of the press witnessed Cruz’s arrival and departure.  Even the few passers-by who asked what was happening expressed little interest or emotion over Cruz’s visit.

The Senator successfully ignored press questions on arrival, but was thwarted on departure as a former Republican candidate greeted him and invited a press question.   After answering one question Cruz continued on his way, climbing into his waiting car and rolling across a sun-dappled 83rd Street.

Photo Gallery:  Our photo gallery of Cruz’s appearance is here.

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NYS GOP Dinner (Updated)



Trump, Kasich & Cruz.  That was the underwhelming lineup at the New York State Republican Committee annual gala Thursday night, as the well-timed dinner was held just five days ahead of New York’s presidential primary.  The black tie dinner was a world apart from most of the candidates’  campaign appearances, high on money and low on anger.  The wealthy, politically connected audience bore little resemblance to the crowds at most 2016 Republican events in this anger-dominated election.

Trump spent much of his speech recounting various real estate projects in New York City, omitting the angry stream-of-consciousness musings that define his campaign rallies.  Kasich spoke as a late-served dinner appeared on the tables while Cruz spoke to a talking and shrinking audience.  Continue reading NYS GOP Dinner (Updated)

End Days



Christie - Hampton, NH 2-7-16Monday was the last day of the notion-bending year-long campaign leading to the New Hampshire presidential primary.  Republican candidates have for months decried the condition of America, denouncing Barack Obama for what they see as destruction wreaked on the U.S. that has pushed the country to the edge of a precipice.  With New Hampshire voting those dire descriptions will end, at least for the Granite State, as the campaign rolls on to South Carolina, Nevada and beyond.

Who’s rising, who’s falling and who will exceed expectations?  Jeb Bush, John Kasich and Chris Christie all had good days in the last moments of the New Hampshire primary, but they face a dual challenge of trying to shove past the other two governors and simultaneously trying to catch up to Marco Rubio and Ted Cruz.  Here are a few impressions from the candidates’ closing appearances.

Continue reading End Days

Cruz Lands



Cruz - Windham, NH 2-2-16Republican presidential candidate Ted Cruz landed in New Hampshire Tuesday fresh from his victory in the Iowa caucuses.  Cruz spoke to a modest sized audience of about 150 people at a church in Windham, New Hampshire, but was also joined by nearly as many members of the press.

Although undoubtedly a strong candidate in New Hampshire, Cruz faces a different landscape than that of Iowa.  With a less significant portion of the electorate identifying as “evangelical”, there’s a diminished presence of a meaningful element of Cruz’s base.  His fierce rhetoric on guns, prayer and Barack Obama finds a receptive audience, however, and he’s drawn substantial audiences in his recent New Hampshire appearances.  At this town hall the audience was supportive yet not overly vocal or demonstrative.

“God bless the great state of New Hampshire” began Cruz, declaring that the election will not be “decided by the media, lobbyists or the
“Washington Cartel”, a favored Cruz enemy.  It fits neatly into Cruz’s painting this election as 1979 redux, with Cruz as the new Ronald Reagan.  In Cruz’s telling, the last time “we broke the Washington Cartel” was in Reagan’s 1980 victory.

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Continue reading Cruz Lands

1979



Donald over Ted – that’s what The Mirror reports on Jimmy Carter’s preference between the two leading Republican presidential candidates.  It’s a nice twist to the race as Ted Cruz regularly describes today in 1979 terms, attacking Jimmy Carter, decrying perceived American weakness at the hands of Iran and Russia and casting himself in the role of Ronald Reagan.

Here’s Cruz, speaking in Windham, New Hampshire on Tuesday:

Cruz Q



Ted Cruz responded to a single press question as he departed from a town hall in Windham, New Hampshire this afternoon. Cruz gave a non-responsive answer when asked how voters in New Hampshire differ from voters in Iowa.

Here’s what he had to say:

Sidenote: Cruz Campaign Bus Homogeneity



Ted Cruz’s campaign bus features photo montages on both sides and the rear.  From a brief viewing Thursday at a Cruz Meet & Greet in Manchester, New Hampshire it appeared that everyone in the photos is white.

Cruz In Manchester



Cruz - Manchester, NH 1-21-16Republican presidential candidate Ted Cruz wrapped up a four day New Hampshire bus tour Thursday afternoon in Manchester.  Speaking to 150-200 people, Cruz painted a dark portrait of America as a “country[] in crisis” and “at the edge of a cliff”, with saving the country as beyond both Democrats and other Republicans.

Cruz’s basic theme was a combination of the destruction caused by President Obama, saying that “constitutional rights are under assault each and every day”, and the role of faith, prayer and Judeo-Christian values in restoring America to its rightful greatness, declaring that “there is an awakening that is sweeping this country.”

A bumper sticker outside a Ted Cruz meet & greet in Manchester, New Hampshire. 1/21/16
A bumper sticker outside a Ted Cruz meet & greet in Manchester, New Hampshire. 1/21/16

 

Cruz fully embraced his reputation as a man intensely disliked by many, including his Republican Senate colleagues.  Although his disdain is first and foremost directed at President Obama, Hillary Clinton and Democrats generally, he enthusiastically attacked the “bipartisan corruption of career politicians in both parties.”  His audience seemed to share that view, primarily rejecting Democrats but also showing disdain for Republicans.  Later, as the crowd dispersed, two 40-ish men were discussing their Cruz enthusiasm.  Their bonding intensified as each revealed that they were first drawn to Cruz “when he called Mitch McConnell a liar on the floor of the Senate.”

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Continue reading Cruz In Manchester

Trump On Cruz



“Am I the only person that thinks he’s a nice guy?”  That was Donald Trump Saturday describing his previous view of Ted Cruz.  Trump clearly no longer holds that view, as shown in his lengthy critique of Cruz.

Trump attacked Cruz on the recent report that Cruz failed to report to the FEC personal loans from Goldman Sachs and Citibank which Cruz used to finance his 2012 senate campaign.   He also attacked Cruz over his recent “New York values” comment.   Trump gave a rambling recounting of New York’s response to the September 11, 2001 attacks as an illustration of the emptiness of Cruz’s crack.

Here’s Trump discussing Ted Cruz:

Double Barrel Cruz



Cruz - Londonderry, NH 1-12-16Ted Cruz fired away at his political enemies, both elected and hypothetical, in a pair of New Hampshire appearances Tuesday.  At a “Second Amendment rally” in Hudson and a town hall in Londonderry Cruz spoke harshly about Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton while reverently characterizing gun rights as foundational to America’s continued existence.

“The real reason for the Second Amendment to our Constitution is to make sure that the People have the arms and the wherewithal to defeat an ever-encroaching tyrannical government.”  Those are the words of one of Cruz’s introductory speakers and it succinctly captures the Cruz view of gun rights and the state of the Republic.  Hunting and even self-protection against criminals are important, but the Second Amendment and the unfettered right to own and use guns is most vitally a “check on tyranny” said Cruz.  It’s a centerpiece of Cruz’s worldview, revolving around the notion that a tyrannical, or at least aspiring-to-be tyrannical, government is actively working to encroach its citizens’ liberty in a multitude of ways.

Continue reading Double Barrel Cruz

Cruz, Interrupted



IMG_5897Ted Cruz’s 2nd Amendment rally Tuesday in Hudson, New Hampshire began on a discordant note as two men separately interrupted the beginning of his remarks.  Cruz was as surprised as the rest of the crowd, not initially realizing what was going on but keeping cool as he figured it out.

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As Cruz declared “it’s a beautiful day in New Hampshire” a man walked up the steps and joined Cruz, looking for all the world like he belonged there.   Cruz stood, listening as the man thanked the crowd and announced that he was from “Arm America.”  What seemed perhaps off-script but okay suddenly veered off as the intruder asked “[w]hat made everyone so weird and sad that they had to come out here?”  As the man then asked “[w]hy is everyone so excited about guns?  [t]hey kill people” his ruse became apparent and Cruz moved to get him off the stage.   A second, less successful, attempt at interruption came a moment later.

Here’s how it went:

Cruz Press Q&A



IMG_5896Eleven minutes, three questions.  That’s the numerical recap of Senator Ted Cruz’s post-rally press gaggle Tuesday in Hudson, New Hampshire.  Two of the three questions involved Donald Trump; what is Trump up to in pushing on Cruz’s “eligibility to run” and why, despite polls consistently showing Trump as New Hampshire voters top choice, Cruz regards himself as the better choice.  The final question concerned Cruz’s absence from President Obama’s State of the Union address.

Cruz began with an opening statement reiterating his pro-gun rights positions and touting “conservatives uniting behind our campaign” and “the old Reagan coalition coming back together.”  His response on Trump’s motivation in pushing the issue of Cruz’s constitutional eligibility to be president began with a somewhat forced laugh and “I like Donald.”  He dismissed the legal question of his eligibility and attributed the focus on it on his rising prospects.   Although saying that he won’t attack his competitors Cruz characterized as “more than a little strange” Trump’s citing of a “liberal leftwing judicial activist Harvard Law professor who is a huge Hillary supporter” in his questioning of Cruz’s eligibility.

On his New Hampshire prospects he spoke positively of his chances, said that he’s been engaged in New Hampshire and then launched into attacks on his competitors as “campaign conservatives” who failed to act against Obamacare or join the “fight against amnesty” for illegal immigrants.  The final question produced a lengthy denunciation of President Obama, with Cruz dismissing the likelihood of any value in Obama’s speech.  He notably included complaints about the betterment of “billionaires … and the top 1%” during the Obama administration.

Video:  Here is Cruz’s full gaggle: