Triblive - Texas Senator Cruz Sets Sights on 'Uninspired' Conservatives

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By Salena Zito

More and more Americans are worried that life will worsen for the next generation, so a central issue in the 2016 presidential election will be "reigniting the promise of America," according to U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz.

And to win the White House, Republicans need to mobilize conservatives who have not voted in recent elections, Cruz told the Tribune-Review. People who were "uninspired or unmotivated to show up for either party" across the Midwest and New England -- including evangelical Christians, Reagan Democrats, independents and women -- are important for the party to court, he said.

Pittsburgh could be considered "ground zero for the working men and women who have been hammered by this economy, who are seeing their values, religious liberty and their constitutional rights under assault," Cruz said, "and we need to reach those voters to win."

Cruz, 44, the junior senator from Texas, was first to announce he will seek the GOP nomination. Since then, five more Republicans have declared campaigns; all are raising cash and visiting early primary states.

Cruz might lead the pack in fundraising, even if he doesn't lead in recent polling. Four affiliated political action committees supporting him raised more than $31 million in the nine days after his campaign began, according to Bloomberg News. His campaign raised more than $4 million in that time, spokesman Rick Tyler said.

"As I look to the rest of the field, I look to a lot of good people who I like and respect -- senators, governors who are talented friends of mine," Cruz said, but "I don't see a lot of candidates who are likely to energize and mobilize the millions of conservatives who are not showing up.

"If we don't do that, we lose (and) Hillary Clinton is the next president."

Cruz believes he's the candidate who could win over conservatives. He wants to be president "because our country is in crisis."

"What we are doing isn't working," he said. "The Obama economy is a disaster. Millions of Americans are hurting. The federal government is daily assaulting the constitutional rights of Americans, and the Obama-Clinton foreign policy abroad has made the world a far more dangerous place.

"Leading from behind doesn't work, and today our friends and allies don't trust us and our enemies don't fear us."

ROAD TO POLITICS

Born in Calgary, Alberta, to an Irish Catholic mother from Delaware and a Cuban refugee father, Cruz's birthplace does not make him ineligible to run, legal scholars say. The family moved to Texas when he was 4.

Presidential historian Joel Goldstein of St. Louis University explained that any "natural-born citizen" -- defined as "a child of a U.S. citizen who happened to be delivered abroad" -- can run. A brief written for the Harvard Law Review by former Solicitors General Neal Katyal and Paul Clement backs up that contention, Goldstein said.

Three former Republican presidential candidates -- Barry Goldwater, George Romney and John McCain -- were born outside the United States to American parents. Still, the irony of Cruz's birthplace is not lost on supporters of President Obama, who endured years of challenges to his birthplace and citizenship.

Cruz acknowledges that his parents, who "met over their love of mathematics," had a rocky marriage fueled by alcohol. They divorced once he finished college. His father, an oil industry worker, became a pastor -- a recovery on which Cruz likes to focus.

Cruz, the first Hispanic American to work as a law clerk for a U.S. Supreme Court chief justice, left a private law practice to work for the Justice Department, the Federal Trade Commission and, in 2003, as solicitor general of Texas. He bucked the state's Republican establishment to run for Senate in 2011 against then-Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst.

In 2013, Cruz championed the monthlong government shutdown that grew from a partisan battle over whether to defund the Affordable Care Act. His 21-hour speech railing against Obamacare enraged Republicans, who wanted to change the party's obstructionist image.

Some were concerned that his tactic would hurt the GOP in the 2014 elections, but the party won a majority in the Senate and gained House seats.

EVANGELICAL VOTE CRUCIAL

The GOP nominee in 2016 needs Christian evangelicals, who make up a large enough percentage of voters to decide who moves forward from primary races, experts say. Cruz is among the candidates looking to carry the torch on social issues that win over those voters.

Gay marriage has become a leading issue, and every candidate gets questions such as "Would you attend a gay wedding?" Cruz recently took some heat for appearing at a fundraiser in the home of two gay men.

He said he is opposed to same-sex unions but does not think the federal government should insert itself into any marriage.

"Marriage should be decided at the state level, and indeed, I'd introduce a constitutional amendment to protect the authority of states to define marriage as being the union of one man and one woman," Cruz said. "Under the Constitution, marriage is a question for the states. It has only been in the past few years that we have seen a bunch of unelected federal judges and the federal government trying to tear down the marriage laws of the 50 states."

Such a position "is probably in line with most Republican voters who feel there has been too much federal intervention in their lives," said Chip Felkel, a GOP strategist in South Carolina who is not working for any of the presidential contenders.

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