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He is already being discussed as a possible presidential candidate in 2016, despite the fact that he was born in Canada where his father, Rafael, went to work after immigrating to the United States from Cuba. Constitutional experts say that Cruz could make the case that he qualifies as “a natural-born citizen of the United States” because his mother was a U.S. citizen.
Welcome to Cruzmania.
If Republicans are ever going to win a greater share of the Hispanic vote despite their insensitive rhetoric on immigration, rock stars like Cruz cannot be allowed to fail. And, if Democrats are going to keep their hold on Hispanics, these up-and-comers cannot be allowed to succeed.
Cruz is already a target for Democrats, for three reasons.
First, as the son of an immigrant, Cruz has a great story, and Americans have a soft spot for those.
Next, he forces Democrats to work harder to keep Hispanics in their column when they prefer to have them in their back pockets.
Finally, he punches hard and doesn’t back up. He seems to have been gearing up to brawl with Democrats his whole life.
Listen to what Cruz told me, just 24 hours after being sworn in, when most other freshman senators would be treading lightly.
“I think the Hispanic community is profoundly conservative,” he said. “The values that resonate in our community are faith, family, patriotism. The rate of military enlistment among Hispanics is higher than any other demographic. Hispanic men and women want to work. Want to provide for our kids. Want to stand on our own feet. Those are all conservative values.”
Noting that there are 2.3 million Hispanic small-business owners in the United States – accounting for about one in 10 Hispanic households – Cruz insists that our community is all about entrepreneurial spirit.
“The Democrats are trying to sell the Hispanic community a bill of goods,” he said. “They’re trying to tell Hispanics, ‘Wouldn’t it be good to be dependent on government?’ But dependence is incredibly corrosive and we ought to be encouraging people to stand on their own and work toward the American dream.”
Cruz is well-schooled in the American dream. He had a good teacher.
“I was standing on the Senate floor,” Cruz said near the end of our chat. “And I couldn’t help but think back to 1957, to my dad as an 18-year-old kid, not speaking English, washing dishes, making 50 cents an hour. And if someone had come up to that teenage immigrant and suggested that 55 years hence, his son might be sworn into office as a United States senator representing the great state of Texas, that would have been unimaginable to him. And yet, as I stood with my hand on the family Bible, my father was sitting in the gallery looking down – as I took the oath to become a United States senator.”
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Ted Cruz has had an excellent first week in office. He has given several interviews and speeches that have been well received. Liberals haven't quite figured out what to do with him because as one of his former liberal law professors pointed out, "He is scary smart." But, you can bet Democrats are already working on a plan to tear him down. It is what they do and they know they cannot beat him in a fair argument. They will find him to be a tenacious fighter who will not back down,
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