Cruz, Clinton, Paul & Rubio- Who Are They & What Do They Bring To The Table?

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Parliament Street’s Tom Lahey provides an update on the U.S Presidential election campaign, whilst reviewing the backgrounds of those who have already declared their intention to run.

The 2016 campaign for the White House has kicked off in the last few weeks with the official announcements of four candidates; Senators Ted Cruz (R-TX), Rand Paul (R-KY), Marco Rubio (R-FL) and of course, Hillary Rodham Clinton who served as First Lady, Senator from New York and Secretary of State under President Obama.

Declaring one’s intention to seek the United States’ highest office is a huge decision and one that involves consultations with allies in Washington and nationally, donors, friends, family and a period of inward reflection.

Both Ted Cruz and Marco Rubio have impressive stories. Sons of immigrants, both of Cuban descent and were elected in 2010 during the Tea Party movement’s peak. In spite of a few aesthetic differences, both have voted relatively the same during their tenure in the Senate. The biggest difference between their voting records is Rubio’s push for the immigration reform package that failed in the Senate in 2013 which he worked on with the so-called “Gang of Eight”- four Democrats, four Republicans.

Marco Rubio (R- FLORIDA)

Marco Rubio (R- FLORIDA)

Cruz has never even pretended to support any comprehensive immigration reform that could include legalization of those currently in the US illegally. Cruz is an ardent constitutionalist. He’s a Tea Party favorite and launched his campaign at Liberty University, a deeply Christian school which was founded by Reverend Jerry Fallwell. His message will be about traditional values and returning to the Founding principles. Family values and a Christian understanding of American morality. He filibustered a motion regarding the Affordable Care Act relative to a continuing resolution designed to fund the government and avert a government shutdown. The government was eventually shutdown for 15 days in October and this issue caused enormous embarrassment to the G.O.P. for weeks until a budget compromise was reached between Paul Ryan and Elizabeth Warren.

Ted Cruz (R-TEXAS)

Ted Cruz (R-TEXAS)

Rand Paul had his own filibuster in which he stood for 12 hours and 52 minutes to delay voting on the nomination of John O. Brennan as the Director of the CIA. Paul questioned the Obama administration’s use of drones and the stated legal justification for their potential use within the United States. Paul is also a strict Constitutionalist and has a large libertarian following as a result of his father’s multiple runs for the White House on a strict limited-government, anti-tax, civil liberties agenda which won the support of the libertarian wing of the Republican Party. Senator Paul has evolved on his foreign policy in some ways since joining the Senate in 2010. He used to be easily described as an isolationist and opposed the President’s involvement in Libya, drone attacks and also opposed any involvement in Syria in 2012 though now he is calling for expanding the fight against ISIL in Iraq and Syria. Paul is making his campaign about fighting against the so-called “Washington Establishment” and taking his limited-government and non-interventionist policies to the Executive Branch.

Rand Paul (R- KENTUCKY)

Rand Paul (R- KENTUCKY)

Hillary Clinton is opposite to all three of these men. She is a progressive, an internationalist, pro-choice, supports gay marriage and believes the government has a role in shaping American culture and ensuring fairness and equality in society. Ms. Clinton is famous for her role in the healthcare reform debacle of the 1990’s which eventually cost Democrats control of Congress and of course, her role in the Whitewater scandal. She served as Senator from New York from 2001-2009, when she became Secretary of State after a failed and famously poorly-run Presidential campaign. In the Senate, she voted for the Afghanistan and Iraq wars, the PATRIOT Act and its reauthorization in 2005. She was generally supportive of the Iraq conflict which drew criticism from many on the left of the Democratic Party, like former Senator and Governor of Rhode Island Lincoln Chafee, who is also exploring a presidential run. She supported efforts to reform immigration and the bailouts (TARP, etc.) in 2008 to save the economy.

Hillary Clinton

Hillary Clinton

She was confirmed in a Senate vote for her cabinet position in a 94-2 vote, even earning the votes of major critics in the G.O.P. now. As Secretary of State she presided over the eventual full withdrawal of combat forces from Iraq, an Obama campaign pledge. She argued for an additional 21.000 troops to be sent to Afghanistan and met with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, where they pushed a “reset” button in a symbolic gesture to change the direction of the Russian-US relationship. Whilst Medvedev was President, the relationship had improved but Putin’s re-emergence saw a dramatic disintegration of any “reset”.

She supported and advocated for US intervention in the Libyan Civil War and was in the inner circle of Administration officials who ordered the attack on the compound where Bin Laden was hiding. She has been blamed by Republicans for the deaths of the US Ambassador and three Navy SEALs in the September 2012 attack on the US Embassy in Benghazi, of which she is still being investigated. She is not immune to scandal- Benghazi, the recent revelation that she used a private server for e-mails during her tenure at State, then deleting 30.000 of those e-mails, the Clinton Foundation accepting money from brutal regimes who oppress women- not to mention all of the scandals of the 90’s.

So, those are the bios. What do these four declared candidates have in common? They’re all Senators. Historically, Governors have made the best candidates and the best presidents because of their executive experience. Presidents like Teddy Roosevelt, FDR, Reagan, Bill Clinton, etc. All of these Presidents were successful because of their experience in governing as an executive. Senators have been exceptions- JFK, LBJ, and Barack Obama- all Democrats- have been elected President. Americans like Governors. There are four Governors who have not yet declared but are considered to be strong contenders- Gov. Jeb Bush, Gov. Chris Christie, Gov. Scott Walker and Gov. Martin O’Malley.

It will be interesting to see how the field plays out in the coming months. The candidates that have declared as of now are on all sides of the spectrum and represent different parts of their respective parties. Even in early 2015, the next Presidential election is heating up. Those who are in the race now are unique and attract people from all backgrounds to their causes- young people, students, Hispanics, African Americans, veterans, LGBT, and others. This is an election about the lasting future of the United States and its role in the world. Stay tuned.

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