Ted Cruz, A True Conservative for the White House

His lawyers maintain there won’t be a problem; his birthplace won’t bar him from the White House. However, in reality, the Constitution is clear that only those born on American soil can become president of the United States.

A Champion of Conservatism

Ted Cruz, however, born in Calgary, Canada in 1970, the son of a Cuban immigrant father and Italian- American mother, has no doubts — he can be elected in 2016.

This brazen, upbeat Republican senator from Texas has often acted that way — breaking the rules to reach his political objective. He has done it in the past and will do it in the future. Not even the present will escape the “golden rule” of this 45-year-old ex-student of Princeton and Harvard.

Ted Cruz made the surprise announcement of his intention to run for the presidency, launching his candidacy much sooner than expected, without preceding the announcement with the work of any exploratory committee, a group established by anyone striving for the White House.

Another less than orthodox move by Cruz, the first major name from the Republican Party to throw his hat in the ring. But that’s his style. Since forever — or at least, since he’s been in politics.

The Republican Rivals

By speeding things up, the Texan senator hopes to be able to focus the media’s attention on himself without having to share it with his potential rivals from the Republican camp: Jeb Bush, Marco Rubio, and Rand Paul. Their candidacies should be announced in April, along with the announcement of the person they need to beat: Hillary Clinton.

His political profile is well known: Ted Cruz is a champion of the ultra-conservatives. With his radical stance, the new candidate aims to attract votes from among evangelical Christians, the religious right and the tea party.

Cruz counts on the fact that having a stage — the Senate — will provide him with high visibility. He earned his fame precisely thanks to battles fought on Capitol Hill. He became known on a national level when he crossed swords with Barack Obama over federal funding which then led to the shutdown of U.S. government offices.

But will his candidacy be successful? His Republican Party rivals are many and daunting. In opinion polls in Iowa, the first state where the primaries will take place, Cruz is not doing well. He risks losing votes to people such as Mike Huckabee, Rick Santorum and Governor of Wisconsin Scott Walker, politicians with a strong grip on the evangelical conservatives.

The Hillary Clinton Factor

All of these names, however, seem to have less of a chance than the other candidates; Jeb Bush, Marco Rubio and Rand Paul, with their moderate and libertarian profiles — especially the latter — seem capable of obtaining the majority consensus, at least within the Republican camp.

However, the big question is a different one. As it currently stands, there does not seem to be a particular name in the GOP capable of rallying all the party’s elements around themselves. There are too many differences between radicals and moderates, too many possible discontents. Whoever wins the primary will end up being fairly weak as the winner will lose this or that faction of the electorate along the way.

And then they will face the Hillary Clinton juggernaut. However little she may be liked by many among the Democratic electorate, she may not have any rivals when the American public comes to decide for whom to vote, and decides between Clinton and a Republican already weakened by divisions in the Republican Party.