January 24, 2015--Sen. Ted Cruz
(R-TX) spoke on the theme of "reigniting the miracle of America."
Cruz identified three keys to achieving
this objective: championing jobs and
economic growth and opportunity, defending constitutional rights, and
restoring America's leadership in the world. Cruz
the most overt religious appeal of any of the potential candidates,
mentioning God ten times, Jesus Christ several times, and
devoting a significant passage to defending religious liberty.
Cruz also had plenty of "red meat" lines such as "sending the locusts
of the EPA back to Washington" and calls to "repeal every word of
Obamacare," and "abolish the IRS." Cruz told the audience that
"talk is cheap;" he ticked off a list of issues and said "show me where
you stood up and fought." The audience responded very
enthusiastically to Cruz's speech. [transcript]
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Cruz, dressed in a tan jacket,
but no tie, moved freely about the stage, pausing frequently after
applause lines. Several times he applauded his own applause
lines. He acknowledged his wife Heidi in the audience, and spoke
of his father. Cruz had no other public events on this trip; the Des
Moines
Register reported he planned a
private grassroots roundtable. |