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REACTIONS TO SEN. CRUZ'S ANNOUNCEMENT
March 23, 2015

Tea Party Patriots

Statement of Jenny Beth Martin on Ted Cruz’s announcement

It’s fitting that Sen. Ted Cruz will be the first announced candidate in the GOP presidential field. In his two short years in the Senate, he has yielded to no one in championing the values of personal freedom, economic freedom and a debt-free future. As the field expands, we will look forward to seeing how the other candidates advance the liberty movement and put forward conservative solutions to undoing the mess our ‘transformational’ president has made of our Republic.

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MANASSAS, Va., March 23, 2015 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- After today's official announcement that Senator Ted Cruz of Texas is running for president, Richard Viguerie says that changes everything in the 2016 presidential campaign.

Ted Cruz isn't running for Vice President or Secretary of Housing and Urban Development in the Jeb Bush administration.

Every Republican candidate for president will have to move to significantly to the right, starting with Jeb Bush and Scott Walker, and define their position on amnesty for illegal aliens, on fighting and winning the war radical Islam has declared on America, on spending, the deficit and the debt, and on repealing Obamacare, against the positions Ted Cruz will talk about and campaign on in the coming months.

They will all have to move right to respond to Cruz, or be left behind by a grassroots conservative electorate fed-up with Republican candidates who are merely principle-free messengers for an out of touch Washington elite.

Ted Cruz's base is the conservative movement, and although other Republican presidential candidates since Ronald Reagan, such as Gary Bauer and Michelle Bachmann, looked to movement conservatives for their support, they were never able to expand beyond their starting base of support into the top-tier of candidates.

Ted Cruz is the first top-tier movement conservative candidate since Reagan for three reasons that separate him immediately from the rest of the Republican pack.

First, is his ability to unite all three elements of the old Reagan coalition; national defense conservatives, economic conservatives and social conservatives with the new fourth leg of the 21^st century's winning conservative coalition – the constitutional conservatives of the Tea Party movement.

Others, such as Scott Walker, Bobby Jindal and Rand Paul may have some appeal to elements of that coalition, but no one unites it the way Ted Cruz does.

Second, is Ted Cruz's understanding of and almost spiritual bond with America's country class – the voters outside the Beltway who have looked with alarm at Obama's fundamental transformation of America and seen not a spending bill to be negotiated or a deal to be cut, as the Republican establishment does, but an existential threat to American exceptionalism and the future of constitutional government that must be resisted at every turn.

Finally and perhaps most importantly, are Ted Cruz's zest for the battle of ideas between conservatives and progressives in both political parties and his intellectual gifts for fighting it.

The Ted Cruz campaign is planned as a great conservative crusade to, as he put it in his compelling announcement speech at Liberty University, reignite the promise of America.

And this means with Ted Cruz in the race voters will have a clear choice between policy grounded in the thought of the modern conservative movement and the Washington deal-making that has often corrupted Republican campaigns of the recent past.

Today, everything in American politics changed, and that tremor you felt at midday was the shiver in the DC establishment as millions of conservatives across America respond to Ted Cruz and said in unison, we've found our leader and "We demand our Liberty."

Contact: Bob Sturm

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American Bridge

American Bridge Reaction to Ted Cruz Presidential Campaign

It’s official:  Tea Party Republican Ted Cruz is running for president, setting the stage for a long and bloody primary that reveals the extreme nature of Scott Walker, Jeb Bush, Marco Rubio, and the rest of the field as they struggle to keep up with Cruz’s radical streak.

“Ted Cruz shut down the government in a tantrum, opposes marriage equality, denies climate change, and opposes a woman’s right to choose even in cases of rape or incest. He’s everything voters hate about the modern Republican Party in one candidate, and the entire field is already signing on to his positions,” said Brad Woodhouse, President of American Bridge 21st Century.

American Bridge has been scouting Cruz for years.  Our full scouting report on Cruz is available here, including biographical info and what to watch for in his campaign.  

Cruz on Key Issues

• Opposes abortion in cases of rape or incest: YES

• Denies human-caused climate change: YES

• Opposes universal background checks on gun purchases: YES

• Opposes marriage equality: YES

• Opposes raising the minimum wage: YES

• Opposes Medicaid expansion: YES

• Opposes the Affordable Care Act: YES

Tracking Footage

• JABBING AT JEB BUSH:  Cruz tells an Iowa radio host that If Republicans  nominate "another establishment moderate" they’re going to lose https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qufyVWD5HJU&feature=youtu.be

• GOVERNMENT SHUTDOWN:  Cruz talking about his shutdown over Obamacare https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SXH_oiQzca4

• IMMIGRATION:  Cruz says the President’s executive orders are "an abomination"  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-UNSNOFGHB8&feature=youtu.be

• IMMIGRATION:  Cruz says “amnesty” is creating "a constitutional crisis"  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TtnLTLTHvyk

• MARRIAGE EQUALITY:  Cruz believes there's a "real risk" that pastors could be imprisoned for opposing same sex marriage   http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JsJa9DJRnis&feature=youtu.be

• CLIMATE CHANGE:  Cruz says "there's been no warming whatsoever" in the last 17 years  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2p4o8dDXPRs

• COMMON CORE:  Cruz vows to "Repeal every word of Common Core" (to raucous applause)  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OTLvVW7_rbc

• COMMON CORE:  Cruz dinging other candidates.  "If you say you oppose common core, show me."  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J9QFmOf0Jb4

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Democratic National Committee

March 22, 2015 at 1:46 PM

5 Things You Need to Know about Ted Cruz – in His Own Words

“Fitting that Ted Cruz would be one of the first to jump into the Republican primary. He led his party’s efforts to shut down the government in a personal crusade to take away quality health care from millions and to give control back to the insurance companies, and has been the embodiment of the Republican Party’s backwards policies that put millionaires and corporations first and the middle class last. Seniors need to know that Ted Cruz thinks Social Security is a ‘Ponzi scheme’. Women need to know that Ted Cruz thinks the Paycheck Fairness Act is ‘for show’. Everyone needs to know that Cruz supported a 23% national sales tax, which would shift the tax burden to the middle class, while slashing taxes for corporations. On issue after issue, Ted Cruz and his Republican colleagues are wrong for the middle class, wrong for women, wrong for seniors and wrong for America.” – Holly Shulman, DNC national press secretary

1. Cruz led a government shutdown that cost $24 billion – all because he wanted to take away quality health care from millions of Americans and give control back to the insurance companies. 

And then he said that it was “absolutely” worth it.

Watch it here.

2. Cruz’s priorities are completely backwards. 

Ted Cruz wants to “slash the corporate tax rate”, while proposing a 23% nationwide sales tax on just about everything – which would increase the burden on the middle class.

3. Cruz on Social Security being a Ponzi scheme: “There’s no doubt that’s what it is.”

Watch it here.

4. Cruz’s agenda: shut it down.

“There are a number of federal agencies that I think should be eliminated: the Department of Education, the Department of Commerce, the Department of Energy…”

Read it here.

5. Cruz on the Paycheck Fairness Act: “A show vote”

Watch it here.
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March 23, 2015 at 1:07 AM

What you need to know about Ted Cruz:

President Ted Cruz.

If you're like us, ____, just reading that phrase probably sent shivers down your spine or produced a pretty serious roll of the eyes.

But as of this moment, Texas Senator Ted Cruz is officially running for president, and if we don't do everything in our power to stop him, the possibility of President Ted Cruz could become a reality.

So here are three things everyone needs to know about wannabe President Ted Cruz:

• - He led the GOP's government shutdown, costing the economy a staggering $24 billion, as part of a personal crusade to take away quality health care from millions of Americans and give control back to the insurance companies.
• - He has obstructed everything from raising the minimum wage to paycheck fairness to immigration reform.
• - He would give corporations and the richest Americans huge tax breaks, at the expense of working Americans.

Here's what you can do to fight back right now -- become a Factivist, and commit to spreading the word about Ted Cruz and his fellow Republicans:

http://my.democrats.org/Ted-Cruz

Thanks for doing your part!

2016 DNC Factivists
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March 23, 2015 at 8:51 AM

Fusion: How Ted Cruz could make the relationship between Republicans and Latinos even tougher

article by Brett Logiurato
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March 23, 2015 at 10:57 AM

DNC Chair Statement on Ted Cruz’s 2016 Announcement

Washington, DC – In response to Senator Ted Cruz’s announcement that he will run for president in 2016, DNC Chair Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz released the following statement:
 
"As the de-facto leader of the Republican Party in recent years, it is only fitting that Ted Cruz would position himself in front of the GOP’s 2016 presidential field. But Cruz’s determination to oppose and obstruct any and all attempts to help the middle class is the embodiment of what’s wrong with the Republican Party.
 
"Ted Cruz clearly could not understand that shutting down the government, so he could deny millions of Americans health care – and costing the economy $24 billion in the process – was not a fight worth having. He was then willing to do it over again and threaten our national security in the process.  His reckless approach to governing would make life worse, not better for Americans and he isn’t the type of fighter that America’s middle class families need."
 

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Ted Cruz’s Rollout Sets the Bar Low for 2016 GOPers’ Campaign Launch

Ted Cruz announced his candidacy for President today.

Here’s how well it’s going for him:

On the internet:

New York Times: Online Mischief Seeks to Dull Cruz’s Luster
Fusion:  How Ted Cruz Got Trolled on the First Day of His Campaign 
IJR: Ted Cruz’s Web Presence Is In Need Of Some Serious Work
BI: Students at Ted Cruz's presidential campaign announcement trashed Cruz on social media
Mediaite: Ted Cruz Domain Name Redirects to Healthcare.Gov
Vox: Ted Cruz’s Website Poses Unnecessary Security Risks for Donors
BI: Twitter mocked Ted Cruz's 'imagine' speech with John Lennon jokes

Just in general:
Politico: Fellow Texan John Cornyn won’t back Ted Cruz in presidential primary

CNN: GOP Rep. Peter King dismisses Ted Cruz as 'carnival barker'

The Daily Beast:  The Truth Behind Ted Cruz’s Lies

The New Republic: Ted Cruz Cannot Be Serious

Texas Observer: President Ted Cruz? Meh. 
The Detroit News: Cruz’s Campaign Faces Uphill Battle In Michigan

At the Event:
ABC: How Rand Paul Supporters Provided Awkward Backdrop for Ted Cruz’s 2016 Announcement
Mashable: Attendance at Ted Cruz's 2016 announcement was mandatory for Liberty University students
Bloomberg: Ted Cruz Has Skeptics at Liberty, and They Use Yik Yak 
Huff Po: Liberty Students Would Have Been Fined If They Skipped Ted Cruz’s Speech

With Women: 
ThinkProgress: Ted Cruz Just Laid Out The Most Anti-Woman Agenda Yet

 

With Young People:
 MarketWatch: Ted Cruz invokes his student loans, but will he help others with theirs?

With Latinos:

 IBT: Ted Cruz 2016: Why Hispanic Voters Might Not Be Thrilled If Texas Senator Becomes First Latino President
EFE: Latino groups reject Cruz’s candidacy saving he’s “anti-immigrant”

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Dream Action Coalition

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also:
Americans United: "As 2016 Presidential Campaign Gets Under Way, IRS Should Act To Enforce Non-Profit ‘No-Politicking’ Rule, Says Americans United," March 26, 2015 press release.