Ted Cruz Just Auditioned to Be the Right's Bold Leader in 2016, and Conservatives Loved It [View all]

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Ted Cruz Just Auditioned to Be the Right's Bold Leader in 2016, and Conservatives Loved It

By Rebecca Nelson at the National Journal

http://www.nationaljournal.com/politics/ted-cruz-just-auditioned-to-be-the-right-s-bold-leader-in-2016-and-conservatives-loved-it-20150112

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"Let's stand up and lead," he said. "Let's lead with a big, bold, positive agenda, that says to the American people, 'You had a referendum, and you rejected the Obama agenda. There is a better way.' "

His 10-point plan, which ranges from the expected—repealing Obamacare—to the highly unlikely—abolishing the IRS—is his apparent attempt to solidify himself as the premier antiestablishment candidate in 2016. With cheers and "amen"s reminiscent of a gospel church at Heritage on Monday, it was clear that the conservative audience—a near full house—was on board.

Cruz started crafting the message he delivered Monday before last year's election. In a USA Today op-ed in October, he framed the same points as priorities for a Republican Congress. He said Monday that, now that the GOP has a majority, they shouldn't shy away from major policy battles such as the ones he outlined. It's a deeply conservative platform that will likely transition him to a presidential bid.

The summit, billed as "Opportunity for All, Favoritism to None," laid out a distinctly conservative policy agenda in 2016, from cutting "waste" in the federal budget to allowing union workers to receive raises above their negotiated contracts. Former Sen. Jim DeMint of South Carolina, the Heritage Foundation's president, called Cruz and the other congressmen participating in the event "the real progressives in Washington."



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