The Memphis area doesn’t often attract Presidential candidates, with the exception of an occasional high-dollar fundraiser, held in private. The conventional wisdom says our votes aren’t that important.
Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas bucked that trend last week, adding a grassroots rally in Memphis to his bus tour of seven Southern states. But of course, he’s no stranger to defying the conventional wisdom.
Sen. Cruz drew a crowd of more than 700 at the Agricenter last Tuesday, just days after the first Republican primary debate, which several national polls have shown gave him a boost.
Cruz spoke of a nation in crisis, with an $18 trillion national debt bankrupting our kids and grandkids, and where our Constitutional rights are under assault.
He points out the parallels to the late ’70s, when the weakness of American economic and foreign policy invited mockery from two countries reprising their roles today, Russia and Iran.
But the conservative movement that successfully confronted those challenges in 1980 can choose do so again in 2016, he said.
Cruz would spend his first day in office taking five actions:
- Rescind every illegal, unconstitutional executive action signed by President Obama;
- Investigate Planned Parenthood for criminal activity highlighted by a recent hidden video series
- Protect religious liberty and dismiss the government’s case against the Little Sisters of the Poor, a Catholic charity led by nuns who object to Obamacare’s abortion drug coverage mandate;
- Revoke the nuclear agreement with Iran; and
- Move the American embassy in Israel to Jerusalem.
As for domestic policy, Senator Cruz names two priorities: repealing Obamacare completely and reforming the tax code. His single, flat income tax rate would allow taxpayers to complete their returns on a postcard and put the IRS out of business.
Cruz says what drives him is the fight for liberty, making sure his daughters live in freedom.
That’s a lesson Sen. Cruz takes from his father. Rafael Cruz grew up in Cuba, joined the revolution and was imprisoned and beaten nearly to death by the Batista regime. In 1957, he fled to America on a student visa and arrived with just $100 sewn into his underwear. He couldn’t speak English and took a job as a dishwasher, making 50 cents an hour. The elder Cruz earned a degree in mathematics and went on to start a business and a family.
He now travels around the country spreading the gospel.
Cruz says his father told him, “When we faced oppression in Cuba, I had a place to go. But if we lose freedom here, where do we go?”
America can continue to be a beacon of liberty, a “shining city on a hill,” if we stand up to the corrupt leadership in both parties who have brought our country to the brink of ruin.
The people to turn things around will be the conservative grassroots voters in Shelby County and across the country whose $68 donations, on average, have made Cruz the top fundraiser in a 17-candidate field. They are keeping his campaign well-positioned, despite the lack of D.C. establishment support or the aid of celebrity theatrics.
Republicans have sent waves of new Senators and Representatives to Washington, attempting to stop the implementation of Obamacare, reverse the flood of red ink, and end the President’s executive amnesty program.
Unfortunately, too many of those we’ve elected have turned out to be “campaign conservatives,” in the Cruz parlance, who lose their resolve once in office.
If we’re serious about making a difference, it isn’t enough for us to put Republican majorities in Congress or find an “electable” nominee to run for President. We’ve tried that. The conventional wisdom isn’t working.It’s time we support people who will do what they say they’ll do.
This is a time for truth.
Written by Mick Wright, a member of the Ted Cruz for President Tennessee Leadership Team and a Bartlett resident. He may be contacted via email to mickwright@gmail.com, on Twitter.com as @mickwright, or by calling his cell at (901) 619-1340. His website is mickwright.net.
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