Extolling faith, Cruz enters race

LYNCHBURG, Va. -- Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas opened the first major campaign of the 2016 presidential season Monday with a kickoff speech courting cultural conservatives and declaring that he will devote himself to "reigniting the promise of America."

One of several Republicans to rise from the Tea Party movement, Cruz spoke at Liberty University -- the college founded by the late Rev. Jerry Falwell -- hours after an early-morning tweet announcing his White House bid.

"I'm running for president, and I hope to earn your support!" he wrote just after midnight.

Cruz said it again in person Monday at the convocation ceremony at Liberty University, a required event for students enrolled there.

"God's blessing has been on America from the very beginning of this nation, and I believe that God isn't done with Americans," Cruz said. "I believe in you. I believe in the power of millions of courageous conservatives rising up to reignite the promise of America. And that is why, today, I am announcing that I am running for president of the United States of America."

Those in attendance broke out into yells of "Ted. Ted."

Cruz's speech had the feel of a sermon at a megachurch, with the candidate wearing a wireless microphone and walking around a stage while delivering his remarks. He discussed his religious faith, how his wife is the daughter of missionaries, how he took out $100,000 in student loans that he paid off only a few years ago and the humble background of his parents.

Cruz, born to an American mother and a Cuban father, is positioning himself to become the nation's first Hispanic president.

He talked about the power of the American dream and harnessing grass-roots efforts to propel his campaign forward.

He asked the enthusiastic crowd to "imagine a president that finally, finally, finally secures the borders."

"Imagine a simple flat tax," he said. "Imagine abolishing the IRS."

He spoke on the fifth anniversary of President Barack Obama signing into law the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act -- legislation that prompted Cruz to stand for more than 21 hours in the Senate to denounce it in a marathon speech that delighted his Tea Party constituency and other foes of the law. Cheers rose in the hall when Cruz reminded the crowd Monday that Liberty University filed a suit against the law right after its enactment.

An adviser to Cruz said the speech was meant to highlight the optimistic side of Cruz, which often gets lost in his reputation as a Senate bomb-thrower. It's an approach that Cruz, a divisive figure in his own party, will continue on the campaign trail as he looks to accentuate a positive message of moving the United States forward and uniting conservatives behind his campaign, the adviser said.

Field to take shape

By getting in the race early, Cruz was hoping to claim ownership of the influential and highly vocal corner of the Republican Party for whom cultural issues are supreme. It was a move at crowding out figures such as former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee, a former Baptist pastor, and former Sen. Rick Santorum, who has made his Catholic faith a cornerstone of his political identity.

Cruz may not be the sole GOP contender for long. Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker and two of Cruz's Senate colleagues, Kentucky's Rand Paul and Florida's Marco Rubio, are contemplating campaigns.

New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie said Monday he won't rush to make up his mind about whether to run for the White House, and said Cruz's first-out-the-gate announcement is not a factor in his timing.

Speaking on his monthly radio show, the Republican governor said there are "still things I'm working through and talking to my family about." He said he expects to make a decision in late spring to early summer.

Gov. Bobby Jindal of Louisiana has said he will wait until the state legislative session ends in June before deciding whether he'll enter the 2016 presidential race. His chief political adviser, Timmy Teepell, said Monday that Jindal wants to stay focused on the final session of his term before deciding about the White House bid.

Meanwhile, former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush has been raising money aggressively for his political action committee from some of the GOP's top donors for months, with another fundraiser organized for Wednesday in Cruz's home state.

Former President George W. Bush is scheduled to attend the event in Dallas. It would be the first time the former president -- also a former Texas governor and current resident of Dallas -- has attended a fundraiser for his brother.

The guest list also includes big names in Texas and national GOP fundraising circles, including Dallas billionaire T. Boone Pickens, who is chairman of BP Capital Management, and real estate and home-building magnate Woody Hunt of El Paso.

Fundraising goals set

With the early announcement, Cruz intended to seize the attention of Tea Party-aligned voters and big donors.

Looking to raise $40 million to $50 million overall for the primary race, the campaign has a goal of raising $1 million by the April 1 filing deadline. The campaign also is buying digital advertising early so it can give Cruz greater name recognition in early voting states.

He has talked about harnessing small-dollar grass-roots donations -- as he did during his Senate race -- and can also draw from a base of conservatives nationwide who have supported him in Congress. Cruz also has some top-dollar donors ready to help, including Hal Lambert, founder of Dallas-based Bridge Point Capital.

The campaign announcement also triggers a host of accounting and reporting requirements about money he is raising and how he is spending it. To this point, he had operated his political organization through a nonpresidential committee that worked under different rules. By officially joining the race, he now operates under a more stringent set of rules, including being able to accept fewer dollars from each supporter.

Cruz supports fewer restrictions on campaign spending.

"Money absolutely can be speech," he said last week in New Hampshire.

After his election to the Senate in 2012, the former Texas solicitor general quickly established himself as an uncompromising conservative willing to take on Democrats and Republicans alike. Criticized by members of his own party at times, he won praise from Tea Party activists for leading the GOP's push to shut down the federal government for 16 days in 2013 during an unsuccessful bid to block money for Obama's health care law.

In December, Cruz again tried to link one of the president's policies -- his recent executive orders on immigration -- to a broader spending bill. The attempt failed again, as many Senate Republicans had warned him it would. But this time, it allowed Democrats to push through a number of presidential nominations before turning control of the chamber over to Republicans.

Indeed, Cruz has not contributed to making many laws: He sponsored or co-sponsored 112 pieces of legislation, only one of which became law. Rather, he has made his mark trying to undo or gut administration policies with which he disagrees.

"He takes what opportunities are in front of him and takes advantage of them and focuses on them," said David Carney, a New Hampshire-based Republican strategist who advised David Dewhurst, whom Cruz defeated to win the 2012 Senate primary. He said Cruz should not be underestimated: "He's much more focused and has a much bigger picture than people appreciate."

Information for this article was contributed by Philip Elliott, Steve Peoples, Thomas Beaumont, Jill Colvin and staff members of The Associated Press; by Katie Zezima and David A. Fahrenthold of The Washington Post; and by Ashley Parker, Maggie Haberman, Jonathan Martin and Nick Corasaniti of The New York Times.

A Section on 03/24/2015