Ted Cruz Will Kick Off 2016 Republican Primaries

On Monday, Texas Sen. Ted Cruz will announce his run for presidency, making him the first 2016 contender to officially enter the presidential race, the Houston Chronicle reported. Cruz will supposedly make the big announcement at Liberty University, a private Christian university in Virginia where he will be speaking at a convocation ceremony on Monday. For Cruz, this moment is a long time coming. According to the Chronicle, Cruz has been toying with the idea of running for president since he was elected to the Senate in 2012. Because of Cruz’s certainty and preparedness to run, he will be skipping the step of forming an exploratory committee and will instead cut straight to the chase of announcing his plans to run for the Republican nomination for president.

But while Cruz is certain about his plans to run, some aren’t so sure his bid will be successful. There are doubts over whether many of Cruz’s Senate colleagues will support his run because of residual anger over the 2013 government shutdown, The New York Times reports. But, as proven by his quick rise to fame in his first three years in Congress, he does have a loyal following of Tea Party voters.

Some also wonder if Cruz can garner more mainstream support from traditional campaign contributors to raise his campaign goal of $40 million to $50 million. Political adviser to Wall Street firms, Greg Valliere, told the Chronicle that even if Cruz does win the primary, he likely would not fare well in the general election.

I don’t consider him a mainstream candidate, and usually to win you’ve got to be inside the 45-yard lines. The enthusiasm for him will be tremendous in maybe a third of the party, but another third of the party will be strongly opposed and another third of the party will be wary.

Moreover, Cruz already doesn’t stand a good chance against his likely Democratic competition, Hillary Clinton. The New York Times reports that Cruz already lags far behind Clinton in public opinion polls. Cruz would also likely face comparisons to Obama, who ran for president in his first Senate term, just as Cruz plans to do.

But no matter how Cruz fares, one thing is certain: He will be setting the 2016 presidential elections into motion with his announcement. Other Republican contenders Sen. Rand Paul (R-Kentucky) and Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Florida) are expected to announce next month. Other possible contenders such as Jeb Bush, Gov. Scott Walker, and Gov. Chris Christie have so far only been exploratory in planning. Clinton is expected to announce in early spring, as opposed to her original plan to announce early summer, The New Republic reports.

Let the games begin.

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