Ted Cruz

[IGotWorms 4,063]

Looks like he's surging and could well get the nomination (Trump will not).

 

He'll be a terrible general election candidate and Republicans would be much smarter to nominate Rubio.

 

But I digress. What I'm wondering is, could someone explain to me how Cruz, who was indisputably born in Canada to Cuban parents, is qualified to be president, when the nutbag birthers (who are the same folks supporting Cruz) couldn't handle a Hawaiian born president with an American mother?

 

Just curious how you guys rationalize this. Personally I could not care less about Cruz's citizenship, but the hypocrisy is simply astounding

[MTSkiBum 1,626]

He is white and does not have a Muslim name.

[MDC 8,011]

He is white and does not have a Muslim name.

/thread

[mobb_deep 921]

/thread

 

 

Reps didn't care that McCain was born in Panama, or Romney Sr. was born in a Tijuana brothel. It only makes sense that they don't care that Ted Cruz dad is a commie fascist, who grew up in the socialist utopia to the north.

 

Because OBUMMER!!!!!

[MDC 8,011]

 

 

Reps didn't care that McCain was born in Panama, or Romney Sr. was born in a Tijuana brothel. It only makes sense that they don't care that Ted Cruz dad is a commie fascist, who grew up in the socialist utopia to the north.

 

Because OBUMMER!!!!!

The best part is their fake outrage when you suggest that might be sort of racist.

[IGotWorms 4,063]

Cmon you guys, they must have some rationale. They're going to have to if Cruz is their man

[kilroy69 1,271]

Trump is the republican parties best hope at winning in a general election. I can not imagine that they will shoot themselves in the foot........again. But they do it all the time so I am not sure why I would be so surprised.

[Mike Honcho 5,518]

Cmon you guys, they must have some rationale. They're going to have to if Cruz is their man

 

Political Factcheck---wonder if Gary will dismiss this one...since it agrees with his guy, cause it comes from Factcheck.

 

 

 

For most of his presidential campaign and much of his presidency, President Barack Obama endured erroneous claims that he was born in Kenya rather than the United States. He released the short form of his birth certificate to prove he was born in Hawaii. Then the long form. The conspiracists died down, but they remained.

Now, the first candidate to throw his hat in the ring for the 2016 presidential contest, Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, was born outside the United States, a fact he willingly offered.

 

Cruz, who was born in Canada, has maintained there are no constitutional barriers that prevent him from running. And so far the challenges to his candidacy are few and far between.

 

So can Cruz run? He likely can, just as Obama could have even if he were born in Kenya -- which, again, he most certainly wasn’t.

 

Cruz — full name: Rafael Edward Cruz — was born in Calgary, Canada, in 1970. His family was living there because his father was working for the oil industry at the time. They moved when he was four. Cruz grew up in Texas and graduated from high school there, later attending Princeton University and Harvard Law School.

In 2013, the first-term senator — already considered a prospective presidential candidate — released his birth certificate, which shows his mother was born in Delaware and his father was born in Cuba. (A situation similar to Obama, whose mother was born in Kansas and father was African.)

 

Most legal scholars maintain that Cruz is in the clear despite his Canadian birthplace.

 

But is the issue 100 percent settled? Not exactly.

 

What the constitution says

 

We first looked into this issue in 2013 but decided to look again now that Cruz has formally announced. As we found back then, the constitutional requirements for a presidential candidate created by the Founding Fathers are concise but not readily clear.

Two provisions are obvious: The candidate must be 35 years of age and a resident of the United States for 14 years. The third qualification: He or she must be a "natural born citizen."

What does it mean to be a "natural born citizen"?

 

Most legal experts contend it means someone is a citizen from birth and doesn’t have to go through a naturalization process to become a citizen.

 

If that’s the definition, then Cruz is a natural born citizen by being born to an American mother and having her citizenship at birth. The Congressional Research Service, the agency tasked with providing authoritative research to all members of Congress, published a report after the 2008 election supporting the thinking that "natural born" citizenship means citizenship held "at birth."

 

There are many legal and historical precedents to strongly back up this argument, experts have said.

 

Those precedents were the subject of a recent op-ed in the Harvard Law Review by two former solicitor generals of opposing parties, Neal Katyal and Paul Clement, who worked for Presidents Barack Obama and George W. Bush, respectively. They wrote that "natural born" had a longstanding definition dating back to colonial times.

 

British common law recognized that children born outside of the British Empire remained subjects, and were described by law as "natural born," Katyal and Clement wrote.

 

"The framers, of course, would have been intimately familiar with these statutes and the way they used terms like ‘natural born,’ since the (British) statutes were binding law in the colonies before the Revolutionary War,’" they said.

 

Additionally, the first Congress of the United States passed the Naturalization Act of 1790, just three years after the Constitution was written, which stated that children born abroad to U.S. citizens were, too, natural born citizens. Many members of the inaugural Congress were also authors of the Constitution.

Incidentally, this isn’t the first time the qualifications of a candidate have come into question. George Romney, the father of Mitt Romney who ran for president as a Republican in 1968, was born in Mexico. Barry Goldwater, the 1964 GOP presidential nominee, was born in Arizona before it was a state. Neither candidate’s campaign was derailed by citizenship challenges.

 

More recently, Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., faced questions about his eligibility because he was born in the Panama Canal Zone while his father was stationed there.

 

Interestingly, McCain’s potential Democratic opponents — Obama and then-Sen. Hillary Clinton — co-sponsored a Senate measure to settle McCain’s eligibility. The April 2008 resolution said, "John Sidney McCain, III, is a 'natural born Citizen' under Article II, Section 1, of the Constitution of the United States." It passed unanimously.

 

The Supreme Court’s silence

 

The reason a question still remains even after Romney, Goldwater and McCain is because the Supreme Court — the ultimate arbiter of constitutional questions — has never directly ruled on the citizenship provision for presidential office holders. And that means a note of uncertainty remains.

Some have unsuccessfully challenged the qualifications of presidential contenders, but courts have been reluctant to address the issue. Several citizens filed lawsuits asking the court to rule on whether McCain was a natural born citizen early in 2008, but the legal challenges didn’t go anywhere.

 

"We know from the McCain lawsuits, courts don’t want to touch this," said Sarah Duggin, a professor of law at Catholic University who has researched this issue extensively. "It very well may be that the courts would refuse to go near this. There are so many issues."

Partly, Duggin said, citizens who triggered the lawsuits in the past don’t have standing to sue.

 

But courts may be forced to weigh in if one of two things occur: A state, citing Cruz’s Canadian birthplace, tries to exclude him from the ballot; or another presidential candidate challenges Cruz’s eligibility.

 

Neither scenario is likely, though there may be a potential wild card this go around: Donald Trump.

 

The business tycoon and television personality was one of the most outspoken birthers who claimed Obama was born in Kenya, not Hawaii. While others who erroneously questioned Obama’s birthplace have been silent on Cruz, Trump, a fellow Republican, has not.

 

"It’s a hurdle. Somebody could certainly look at it very seriously," Trump told a New York news outlet Monday. "He was born in Canada. If you know and when we all studied our history lessons, you are supposed to be born in this country, so I just don't know how the courts will rule on this."

 

Trump is also exploring a presidential bid. If he did enter the race, it could give him standing to launch a lawsuit against Cruz.

 

The courts could still punt on the question, Duggin said. They could consider this a political question, in which case it would be out of bounds for the courts to interject.

 

But until it happens, or until a constitutional amendment clarifies matters, we won’t know for sure.

 

"No matter how many people opine," Duggin said, "There’s always going to be that issue."

 

[Frank M 181]

Ask Gary. He loves the guy and says he's our only hope.

[mmmmm...beer 822]

Apparently has an "audiograpic" memory.

 

Which I guess means he can recall verbatim everything he hears, like a recording in his head.

 

Which regardless if you like the dude, is pretty badass. Thats like a focking super power if it's true.

[RLLD 4,275]

If he gets some traction in Iowa expect the news outlets to turn their guns on him pretty quickly

[MDC 8,011]

If he gets some traction in Iowa expect the news outlets to turn their guns on him pretty quickly

I wouldn't bother, he has no shot at winning.

[hoytdwow 202]

Let us not forget that trump was king of the birthers

[RLLD 4,275]

I wouldn't bother, he has no shot at winning.

 

I agree. I think that of the entire field, Rubio is the most likely candidate that emerges.

[hoytdwow 202]

Rubio and Jeb are the only electable repubtards. Iowa is irrelevant. Assfroth won it in 2012 for chrissakes.

[BiPolarBear 497]

Apparently has an "audiograpic" memory.

 

Which I guess means he can recall verbatim everything he hears, like a recording in his head.

 

Which regardless if you like the dude, is pretty badass. Thats like a focking super power if it's true.

 

Correct. He remembers what he hears exactly; including the length of the pauses between the words.

[cmh6476 1,147]

I guess I didn't realize this. I'm just hoping for the kick-ass WH tour I would get if this guy wins

 

 

besides, he can't fock it up any more than barry did.

[dain11279 984]

Loved him in the Mission Impossible flicks

[Cloaca du jour 2,157]

I personally just cant look at him with that beady eyed ferreted face. Its shallow, i just dont think he looks trustworthy.

[Voltaire 5,506]

I personally just cant look at him with that beady eyed ferreted face. Its shallow, i just dont think he looks trustworthy.

Vladdie Putin has the same look and you can ...

 

... nevermind.

[rholio 340]

Let us not forget that trump was king of the birthers

He was the bestest at it.

[kilroy69 1,271]

Rubio and Jeb are the only electable repubtards. Iowa is irrelevant. Assfroth won it in 2012 for chrissakes.

Rubio got 10s of people at his rally last night. He is well on his way.

[cmh6476 1,147]

I will be the first geek poster to officially endorse Ted Cruz

[Big Guy 1,427]

TRUMP / CRUZ

2016

 

 

The left will squirm

[mobb_deep 921]

I'm so scurred.

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EJaldOWDVxo

[KSB2424 3,174]

TRUMP / CRUZ

2016

 

 

The left will squirm

Why will the left squirm? They would throw a party.

 

Every registered Democrat will vote Hillary. Every independent will vote Hillary. The Hispanic, Black, Muslim, etc. vote will be Democrat.

 

None of it neccessrily for Hillary but people will come out if the woodwork to vote AGAINST Donald.

 

It'd be a Hillary landslide. What part of this do the far right fringe Trump folks don't understand?

[Hardcore troubadour 15,993]

Why will the left squirm? They would throw a party.

 

Every registered Democrat will vote Hillary. Every independent will vote Hillary. The Hispanic, Black, Muslim, etc. vote will be Democrat.

 

None of it neccessrily for Hillary but people will come out if the woodwork to vote AGAINST Donald.

 

It'd be a Hillary landslide. What part of this do the far right fringe Trump folks don't understand?

I have to tell you, I don't think Trump is as fringe as you think he is.

[Mungwater 601]

I have to tell you, I don't think Trump is as fringe as you think he is.

Trump would be handing it to Hillary.

 

Has he made a point yet? Immigration is a problem, okay I'll agree. Build a wall and let Mexico pay for it?? Okay, how about an idea that might work?

[IGotWorms 4,063]

Trump would be handing it to Hillary.

 

Has he made a point yet? Immigration is a problem, okay I'll agree.

But is it really? http://www.pewhispanic.org/2015/11/19/more-mexicans-leaving-than-coming-to-the-u-s/

[titans&bucs&bearsohmy! 2,745]

Trump is the republican parties best hope at winning in a general election. I can not imagine that they will shoot themselves in the foot........again. But they do it all the time so I am not sure why I would be so surprised.

Trump has zero shot in a general, even against a bad candidate like Hilary. Look at what a fool he is among 10 other fools now. When it is just him, day after day, it will get really old. Even to many republicans.

[Mungwater 601]

But is it really? http://www.pewhispanic.org/2015/11/19/more-mexicans-leaving-than-coming-to-the-u-s/

My point was being more of he spews crap, gets people riled up, but he has no answer.

 

I'm sorry I'm making less sense than usual, I caught a nasty cold and couldn't sleep for crap last night. Now I'm in California and should be in bed..

[Voltaire 5,506]

I will be the first second geek poster to officially endorse Ted Cruz

Gary already boarded the Cruz train a long time ago.

[Voltaire 5,506]

Trump is better on campaign finance reform, government reform, the Middle East, BlackLivesMatter, court appointments, and government spending than Hillary.

 

His immigration and Muslim deal go too far but if he were to water the rhetoric down to more regular GOP stances on those issues, he'd again be better than Hillary there as well.

 

I'm not impressed at all but it's not out of the question that I'd vote for him over Hillary. There's a good chance I'd just say 'fock it' and vote third party since I dislike both candidates.

 

---

 

As for Cruz. I don't like his tactics on the Senate floor to block raising the debt limit althogh I appreciate his sincerity in wanting to fight runaway deficit spending, the timing is better before the budgets are passed rather than when the bills come due. He also seems better on the Middle East than Hillary.

 

He seems to be too much of a rable rouser whereas Trump can make deals.

 

I don't fricking know. I'm praying for a Kasich miracle.

[hoytdwow 202]

Any nominee other than Rubio or Jeb! and it will be a landslide for the Democrats of 1984 proportions.

[KSB2424 3,174]

Any nominee other than Rubio or Jeb! and it will be a landslide for the Democrats of 1984 proportions.

 

Even Democratic Strategists will tell you the only nominee they actually fear is Rubio. He would be the only one that could get the right vote and the independents and even some Dems who aren't sold on Hillary, not to mention a portion of the Hispanic vote.

 

But I have a feeling this whole anti-establishment far right wing of the GOP are going to back either Trump or Cruz all the way to end.

[kilroy69 1,271]

Trump has zero shot in a general, even against a bad candidate like Hilary. Look at what a fool he is among 10 other fools now. When it is just him, day after day, it will get really old. Even to many republicans.

Oh don't get it twisted. He is NOT going to win. However he is the only one in the field that actually has a slim chance to win. Republicans simply can not field an electable candidate. The last one they did stole one election then just happened to be a wartime president the next election cycle.

[DankNuggs 305]

Ralphie Cruz is a VP candidate

[DankNuggs 305]

 

Even Democratic Strategists will tell you the only nominee they actually fear is Rubio. He would be the only one that could get the right vote and the independents and even some Dems who aren't sold on Hillary, not to mention a portion of the Hispanic vote.

 

But I have a feeling this whole anti-establishment far right wing of the GOP are going to back either Trump or Cruz all the way to end.

I don't. I think it will shift immensely once the dregs bail out and leave it as Trump Cruz Rubio and Jeb. I smell a Jeb Rubio ticket. Maybe a Rubio Kasich ticket

[kilroy69 1,271]

I don't. I think it will shift immensely once the dregs bail out and leave it as Trump Cruz Rubio and Jeb. I smell a Jeb Rubio ticket. Maybe a Rubio Kasich ticket

None of those are even electable.

[RLLD 4,275]

I still believe that in the end Rubio is selected as the candidate, Trump spins off as an independent and dooms the Republicans to lose to Clinton. This then ensures the retention of Obama policies ( I am sure some of you are not going to like that) but as important it ensures ongoing dysfunction in the government, and even worse i submit that Clinton is filthy in terms of how she decides on how to react to situations, she will be ruinous as a president.