Washington Post - Ted Cruz Makes First Campaign Appearance as Presidential Candidate in New Hampshire

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By Katie Zezima

Sen. Ted Cruz hit the campaign trail as a presidential candidate for the first time Friday, proclaiming himself an optimistic, maverick outsider who will shake up Washington.

Cruz (R-Tex.), speaking at a rally at a VFW hall here and later at a dinner of young conservatives in Nashua, reprised one of the themes of his speech announcing his run Monday -- "reigniting the promise of America" -- and said the way to do that is by bringing back jobs after six years of stagnation.

"I am amazingly, powerfully, profoundly optimistic," he said. "I'm optimistic because of each of you, the men and women in this room who will not let freedom go."

In many ways, Cruz's first stop as an official candidate in New Hampshire was a lot like those he made before announcing. He laid out a list of things he wants to do if elected, including abolishing the IRS, creating a flat tax and repealing the Affordable Care Act. Cruz said this week that he will likely sign up for insurance through the law; his family got its insurance through his wife, Heidi, who has taken leave from her job at Goldman Sachs to campaign.

Cruz laid out a plan to both repeal and replace the health insurance law at the dinner in Nashua, likening his plan to the "tsunami of the Reagan revolution," when President Ronald Reagan cut taxes after his election in 1980.

"It is my intention the next two years every day to take the case to the American people that Obamacare is the biggest job killer in this country," he said. Cruz said that he believes health care reform is needed but that the result should look very different from the Affordable Care Act.

Specifically, he wants people to be able to purchase health insurance across state lines, expand health-savings accounts and de-link insurance from employment. The result, he said, would be a consumer- and competition-driven system that takes Washington out of the equation.

Cruz, who went to New York to raise funds and give media appearances in the days after his Monday announcement and then to Washington for Senate votes that kept him up until close to 4 a.m. Friday, said the reaction to his announcement has been "nothing short of breathtaking." Cruz's campaign raised $1 million during the first day and broke the $2 million mark Thursday night.

In an interview with the New Hampshire Journal and NH1 News, Cruz brushed off criticism from Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.), who told Politico that Cruz was "reckless" and didn't address the budget deficit. Cruz defended his vote against an amendment Paul had put forward to boost the defense budget by cutting parts of the domestic budget, saying that while it was a "good faith effort" to solve the budget problem, he was concerned it would reduce aid to Israel and could undermine NASA research.

Cruz sits on the senate committee that oversees NASA.

"I am a big fan of Rand Paul, period," he said.

Cruz also gave Paul's father, former Republican congressman Ron Paul, his due Friday night, telling a group of young conservatives that he and Reagan did an excellent job inspiring young people.

Cruz spoke at the Young America's Foundation New England Freedom Dinner in Nashua. The Council on Islamic Relations asked Cruz not to appear because Robert Spencer, who co-founded an anti-Muslim group, was also appearing at the conference. He and Cruz did not speak at the same time, and Cruz's campaign said the candidate was invited to speak and would keep his commitment to attend.

Cruz's campaign is working to court young people, citing a clip from "Jimmy Kimmel Live" to illustrate his dislike of Obamacare and making references to the HBO show "True Blood," where a group of vampires attend a Cruz rally.

He compared the state of the economy to a young person's parents taking out a credit card in his or her name, hightailing it to Vegas and partying -- and then leaving their child to pay the bill. Cruz told young people to go out and spread his message of conservatism -- but with a smile.

"You can use humor, you can tell stories," he said. "And to be honest, the young people in this room can connect with young people better than any politician."

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