Cruz announces he's running for president

[Free Bird]

This cycle's Fred Thompson

[IceSpear]

Wonderful news!

[Attorney General, LGC Speaker, and Former PPT Dwarven Dragon]

This cycle's Fred Thompson

Thompson: Late-Entry, Former Senator, Large crowd of supporters begging him to enter, not seen as a a 'toxic' candidate

Cruz: Early-Entry, Current Senator, loyal base is looking fairly small, seen as extremely unelectable

Not really similar at all.

[retromike22]

This cycle's Fred Thompson

Thompson: Late-Entry, Former Senator, Large crowd of supporters begging him to enter, not seen as a a 'toxic' candidate

Cruz: Early-Entry, Current Senator, loyal base is looking fairly small, seen as extremely unelectable

Not really similar at all.

Yea, he's more like the 2008 Sam Brownback.

[Landslide Lyndon]

This cycle's Fred Thompson

Thompson: Late-Entry, Former Senator, Large crowd of supporters begging him to enter, not seen as a a 'toxic' candidate

Cruz: Early-Entry, Current Senator, loyal base is looking fairly small, seen as extremely unelectable

Not really similar at all.

Yea, he's more like the 2008 Sam Brownback.

WTF? Brownback was a no-name backbencher that ran a somnabulant campaign.
Cruz OTOH is a star among conservatives and has proven that he can raise big amounts of cash and whip the crowds into a frenzy with his rhetoric. His chances to win the nomination maybe small but saying that he won't be a factor in this contest is completely wrong.

[heatmaster]

What is Cruz selling? Just anger and fear. Is this the best that Texas do? Really scraping the bottle of the barrel with Cruz!😲

[Joe Biden 2020]

What is Cruz selling? Just anger and fear. Is this the best that Texas do? Really scraping the bottle of the barrel with Cruz!😲

The State of Texas has nothing to do with it.  It's the fact that there appears to be no other Texans interested in running.  The nation was genuinely blessed with another Texan some years ago.

[Starbucks Union Thug HokeyPuck]

He's going to announce from Liberty University?  Not that this isn't already known, but at least even the Teabaggers are making it official that all they ever were and all they are are is the Christian Right coalition within the Republican Party. 

America will not vote for this whackjob. 

And so it begins as far as your high-profile candidates go, so I suppose I'll be over on this part of the forum again.  I truly do love the Presidential race.  Fascinating stuff.   

[#discipleofJesus]

Well, at least Ted ain't a clown like Jeb Bush

[Clarko95 📚💰📈]

I mean if Republicans want to lose another election, then I guess it's their right to implode. Please don't just hand the White House to Hillary on a silver platter; I want a competitive election.

[Grumpier Than Thou]

This is going to be so much fun.

[The Dowager Mod]

It is going to be a real knee slapper!

[HAnnA MArin County]

I would've thought he'd announce in Texas, but the school is called "Liberty" University so it seems somewhat fitting.

More like paradoxical, seeing as how Ted Cruz is the most anti-Liberty candidate there could be.

But this is glorious news! I feel as though I should donate to the campaign. Ahhhh there really is a God! The GOP circus is back in town! 

[Mr. Illini]

What is Cruz selling? Just anger and fear. Is this the best that Texas do? Really scraping the bottle of the barrel with Cruz!😲

The State of Texas has nothing to do with it.  It's the fact that there appears to be no other Texans interested in running.  The nation was genuinely blessed with another Texan some years ago.

Perry is running. He has made a number of key moves in early primary states in recent weeks that indicate so.

[Mr. Illini]

As for Cruz, it makes sense to get out of the gate early. He knows Paul is announcing in the near future and wants to get out of the gate quicker than his fellow tea party favorites.

Let the circus begin.

[Atlas Has Shrugged]

I think you guys are seriously underestimating Cruz. Of all the candidates with a chance, save maybe Paul, he has the most devoted supporters.

He probably won't get the nomination, but yeah he should have some consistent support levels. Maybe 2008 Huckabee would be a good comparison.

That would mean Cruz winning the Iowa caucus, which would be a terrible event in the history of thsi nation.

Iowa, at least on the Republican side, has generally been won by terrible people. Ted Cruz would actually be a huge step up.

Cruz may be a panderer of the worst sorts, but he is extremely intelligent. I don't think he is as unelectable as he seems.

[bedstuy]

Awesome.  He's my favorite Republican candidate.  Honestly, I don't get the hate for him on the right here.  If you actually support conservative principles, why don't you like someone who forcefully defends them? 

And, we all know Cruz is going to be an amazing debater.  There are going to be some great pieces of film where he goes after the front-runners.  And, make no mistake, he's going to make people look silly a few times.  Just imagine Cruz vs. Rick Perry on the debate stage arguing some point, that would be like Floyd Mayweather vs. a Leukemia patient in the boxing ring.

[Oakvale]

YES

[WVdemocrat]

I would love for Hillary to start airing some pro-Cruz ads like Claire McCaskill did for Todd Akin. And then have Cruz win the nomination. And then lose to Hillary pitifully.

[LeBron]

This is awesome! I doubt he's going to get the nomination, but it will be fun at least to see the GOP debates turn into a Barnum & Bailey circus performance.

Cruz will go on about upholding our Constitution (and if we're lucky, some Dr. Seuss reading), the Doctor and the Huckster will talk about the evils of teh gays, Trump will try stressing his "successful" (lol) record as a businessman, Perry will be in his own world telling everyone everything he would abolish, Paul likely will be preoccupied on whether to flip-flop on the issues, Walker will be glorifying himself as the anti-union guy, and Bush is just a meh candidate who will try to ruin the fun.

A dream come true.

[Indy Texas]

This should make things interesting around here, since we now essentially have three Texans running: Cruz, Jeb and Rick Perry.

(Yes, Jeb is technically a Floridian but the Bush Organization here is obviously firmly behind him.)

I wonder who all the big money is going to break for and how our various Republican officeholders are going to cast their lots.

[Oak Hills]

Maybe conservative GOP primary voters are more pragmatic than their reputation.

That's been obvious for years to anyone who's been paying attention.  I'll eat crow if the GOP nominee is anyone other than Bush or Walker.

[Amenhotep Bakari-Sellers]

Great, having Cruz in race replaces Rick Perry. Whose flubs help make the voters believe, more, how outside the mainstream the tea party and GOP really is

[Lief 🗽]

I strongly disagree with the meme on here that Cruz is a weak candidate. He's definitely a frontrunner for the nomination. He's very intelligent and a strong debater, and he knows exactly what to say to get the hillbilly fascists that make up the Republican base hoot and holler in ecstasy.

[MATTROSE94]

I think you guys are seriously underestimating Cruz. Of all the candidates with a chance, save maybe Paul, he has the most devoted supporters.

He probably won't get the nomination, but yeah he should have some consistent support levels. Maybe 2008 Huckabee would be a good comparison.

That would mean Cruz winning the Iowa caucus, which would be a terrible event in the history of this nation.

My gut feeling is that Scott Walker will end up barely winning the Iowa caucuses, though I do feel that Ted Cruz will end up winning almost all of the Southern states (except Virginia, North Carolina, Kentucky, Florida and maybe South Carolina) and maybe a few of the Western states in the Republican primaries.