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Amongst presidential candidates, Junior Senator Ted Cruz has received some of the widest media
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attention over the past few years. As the first Hispanic-Canadian Senator from Texas,
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Ted Cruz is a very particular sort of politician, and that has not gone unnoticed. The republican
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candidate has been hailed as the Tea Party’s poster boy. So, we wanted to know, who exactly
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is Ted Cruz?
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Well, perhaps most confusingly, Ted Cruz was born in Canada to an American mother and a
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Cuban father. Notably, his father fought in support of Fidel Castro during the 1950s.
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Now, if you watched our “Who Can Run For President” video, you’ll know that being
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born in Canada doesn’t actually disqualify Cruz from the presidency.
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Anyway, Ted Cruz began his political career as a domestic policy advisor to President
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George W. Bush. He helped stop the Bush v. Gore recount, which awarded Bush the presidency
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in 2000. He later became the Texas Solicitor General, and was part of a number of high-profile
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cases. In one, he prevented the Supreme Court from removing “under God” from the pledge
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of allegiance.
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In 2012, Cruz joined the Senate, and burst into the public eye. Mostly for his conservative
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policy stances and his questionably true statements in support of them. Cruz opposes net neutrality,
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as well as the authority of the FCC’s regulatory. He has voted against all gun control bills,
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and has threatened to filibuster bills that would improve background checks for gun purchases.
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Like most conservatives, Cruz is adamantly
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against “Obamacare”. Some have pointed to him as the leading force behind the 2013
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government shutdown in protest of Obamacare, although Cruz has blamed Obama for the shutdown.
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He has also proposed legislation barring illegal immigrants from ever receiving citizenship,
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and to triple the number of guards at our borders.
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As the recipient of large donations from gas and oil companies, Cruz is largely in support
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of the Keystone XL pipeline, and lifting limits on oil exports. He has also spoken out about
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ending the 1992 ethanol mandate that aims to reduce carbon emissions. Cruz has voted
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against the idea that climate change is man-made, and has called environmental scientists, “global
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warming alarmists” and compared them to “flat-earthers”.
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Socially, Cruz is anti-abortion except in cases of harm to the mother. He also opposes
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same-sex marriage and gay pride parades. In 2015, Cruz proposed the State Marriage Defense
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Act, which would prevent the federal government from using the word “marriage” or “spouse”
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to describe nontraditional marriages. He also voted against a bill which would protect a
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number of minority groups, including women, Native Americans, and the LGBT community.
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He also opposes legalization of marijuana, although he respects a state’s right to
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decide.
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As a candidate, Cruz doesn’t especially stand out amongst his fellow republicans.
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However, as a polemic speaker on social and political issues, Ted Cruz has led the pack
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in conservative rhetoric, despite garnering less support than some of his other peers.
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The GOP race for the 2016 nomination is going to be long and messy. To learn more about
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Mike Huckabee and Marco Rubio, two other candidates, check out these videos now. Thanks
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for watching TestTube, and don’t forget to subscribe below.