{"id":2185,"date":"2015-08-30T16:03:49","date_gmt":"2015-08-30T14:03:49","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/fascinating-america.com\/blog\/?p=2185"},"modified":"2019-01-16T10:01:02","modified_gmt":"2019-01-16T09:01:02","slug":"candidate-profile-rafael-ted-cruz","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/fascinating-america.com\/blog\/candidate-profile-rafael-ted-cruz\/","title":{"rendered":"Candidate profile: Rafael “Ted” Cruz"},"content":{"rendered":"

Remember the “tea party<\/a>” \u2014 the faction of Republicans devoted to fighting the establishment? Rafael Edward Cruz is what’s left of it. Whenever controversy is brewing, the one-term senator from Texas is never far from the TV cameras. In fighting for his principles, Cruz often tests the limits of his own party, as when he turned his protest over health-care reform into a 16-day partial shutdown of the federal government in 2013.<\/p>\n

Cruz’s father, Rafael Bienvenido Cruz, emigrated from Cuba in 1957, during the revolution there. The elder Cruz’s reminders of the Cold War contrast between the United States and Cuba informed the younger Cruz’s strong belief in American exceptionalism \u2014 and his own exceptionalism. When “Ted” was a child, his father told him: “You know, Ted, you have been gifted above any man that I know, and God has destined you for greatness.”<\/p>\n

\"Rafael<\/a>

Rafael “Ted” Cruz speaks in Columbus, Ohio, August 22, 2015. Photo: Gage Skidmore (CC2.0<\/a>)<\/p><\/div>\n

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Rafael “Ted” Cruz<\/h2>\n

Stated priorities:<\/strong> opposing or undoing whatever Barack Obama has done, reducing the federal budget, fighting illegal immigration, increasing production of oil and gas<\/p>\n

Current age:<\/strong> 44
\nAge on election day:<\/strong> 45<\/p>\n

Career path:<\/strong> lawyer, domestic-policy adviser to George W. Bush’s 2000 presidential campaign, US associate deputy attorney general under Bush, Texas solicitor general, senator from Texas since 2013<\/p>\n

Marriages:<\/strong> 1<\/p>\n

Children:<\/strong> 2<\/p>\n

Religion:<\/strong> Southern Baptist<\/p>\n

Religious fervor:<\/strong> ***<\/p>\n

Campaign funds:<\/strong> $$<\/p>\n

Skeletons in closet:<\/strong> **<\/p>\n

Clown factor:<\/strong> *****<\/p>\n

Cuckoo factor:<\/strong> ****<\/p>\n

Ability to stretch the truth:<\/strong> *****<\/p>\n

Distinguishing features:<\/strong> droopy eyebrows, nasal drawl<\/p>\n

Best resembles:<\/strong> the love child of Bill Murray and Pee-Wee Herman<\/a><\/p>\n

Gimmicky product:<\/strong> Ted Cruz for President coloring book<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Campaign video<\/h2>\n