Photo credit: David Davidson – Prezography.com
Ted Cruz is an amazing constitutional conservative voice in the Senate. He has a natural talent for absolutely demolishing his opponents in debates. Like a laser guided missile he always lands his argument squarely on target. But “Cruz” missiles alone won’t win the war so to speak. He needs to fund and organize a massive ground game that other undeclared candidates already have in place.
So how will he fund this war machine? His top donors are right wing groups, energy/oil companies, and banking/investment fund groups. The right wing groups on his top donor list probably do not want to endorse or fund two presidential primaries duking it out against each other. The energy/oil companies will probably be his biggest supporters due to his history in the business. But I predict the best indicator on how successful he will be in a primary and general election will be determined by his ability to garner donations from the banking/investment sector.
His wife is/was a VP for Goldman Sachs (she took a leave of absence for the presidential run) which is one of the largest financiers of elections in America. Ted also owns shares in the prestigious investment bank. These financial sector connections may be what puts Cruz over the top for the funding needed but they might also be his downfall. Would a Cruz President endorse another bailout of banks like Goldman Sachs? These banks also are very good at donating to winners; what if they snub him because a Cruz presidential run isn’t a good investment?
Cruz’s early announcement was an amazing speech but also a sign of desperation. The feeling of inevitability of a Rand Paul presidential candidacy was becoming too real too fast. Between Rand constantly being in the press and his hiring of some of the top consultants in the nation including one from Cruz’s home state, Texas GOP chairman Steve Munisteri and Cruz’s digital strategist, Vince Harris. Unfortunately for Cruz that feeling was only inflamed when the press started focusing on the students in the audience wearing their “Stand with Rand” shirts to their class mandated Cruz announcement speech.
Being trolled by Rand Paul’s people is going to be the least of Cruz’s problems in the news though. The left wing media will have a hay day with his Canadian citizenship which he claims he never knew about and recently renounced. If you thought Obama wasn’t a “natural born citizen” then you should probably drop all hope for Cruz because his situation is worse since he honestly wasn’t born in America. Constitutional scholars on the other hand attest to the legitimacy of Cruz’s “natural born” status because of his American mother he did not need to go through an immigration process, therefore making him a natural citizen. There are also elements in The Naturalization Act of 1790 that further support this claim. Nonetheless the citizenship of Ted Cruz will be an obnoxious circus side show throughout his campaign.
I like Ted Cruz, his politics, his style, and admire his debate skills. I don’t know if he has what it takes for tools to win a presidential primary let alone a general presidential election. Cruz is generally viewed as a divisive character in national politics due to some unwarranted media branding but mostly due to his own actions of fighting with anyone who disagrees including his own party members. His allies within the party are few. He will have to deal with this citizenship issue quickly before it becomes a permanent doubt in too many American’s minds. When we start actually vetting Cruz I believe we will find a staunch constitutional conservative. But what about these ties to Goldman Sachs? Will they unequivocally back him? If so will he also back them if another bailout is needed? If they don’t back him is it because they don’t think he is worth the investment, because he won’t/can’t win? All we can do is follow the money and enjoy the citizenship circus as it plays out. I look forward to the day we can call Rand Paul or Ted Cruz President but as of today Ted still has quite a few issues he needs resolved while Rand only needs to announce.