Post by pavel on Jan 17, 2016 3:22:30 GMT -6
First in a series of reports on the chief presidential contenders in Texas’ March 1 primary.
When he embarked on his race for the U.S. Senate just over five years ago, Ted Cruz knew that the odds were stacked against him.
He was registering about 2 percent in the polls and was up against a field of Republican competitors dominated by one of the state’s most powerful and wealthy political figures, Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst.
Now, as a nationally known senator and top-tier GOP presidential contender, Cruz is borrowing heavily from the playbook that he used to transform himself from unknown underdog into an odds-defying giant-slayer. The Tea Party-infused insurgency that Cruz unleashed to trounce Dewhurst in the 2012 Republican runoff also figures significantly in his hopes of winning the Republican nomination and ultimately becoming president.
Cruz’s immediate focus — like that of every other candidate — is trained on the first-in-the-nation Iowa caucuses and other early states, but a subsequent victory in his home state of Texas — where he is considered a favorite son now that former Gov. Rick Perry is out of the race — is considered crucial to his overall bid for the GOP nomination.
Read more here: www.star-telegram.com/news/politics-government/election/article55130065.html
When he embarked on his race for the U.S. Senate just over five years ago, Ted Cruz knew that the odds were stacked against him.
He was registering about 2 percent in the polls and was up against a field of Republican competitors dominated by one of the state’s most powerful and wealthy political figures, Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst.
Now, as a nationally known senator and top-tier GOP presidential contender, Cruz is borrowing heavily from the playbook that he used to transform himself from unknown underdog into an odds-defying giant-slayer. The Tea Party-infused insurgency that Cruz unleashed to trounce Dewhurst in the 2012 Republican runoff also figures significantly in his hopes of winning the Republican nomination and ultimately becoming president.
Cruz’s immediate focus — like that of every other candidate — is trained on the first-in-the-nation Iowa caucuses and other early states, but a subsequent victory in his home state of Texas — where he is considered a favorite son now that former Gov. Rick Perry is out of the race — is considered crucial to his overall bid for the GOP nomination.
Read more here: www.star-telegram.com/news/politics-government/election/article55130065.html