Obama's Slow Response to ISIS Inspires Ted Cruz to Run for President?
Upset with how the Obama administration has handled recent global conflicts such as the rising threat from the Islamic State, Tea Party Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, appeared to suggest he has an increased interest in seeking a 2016 presidential bid.
Cruz said in an interview on Sunday with ABC News that aired on "This Week" where he heavily criticized President Barack Obama's leadership and his lack of urgency in dealing with the terrorist group ISIS, also known as ISIL or the Islamic State, that the situation has caused him to more deeply consider a presidential run.
Cruz, who is in his first term, argued that the United States needs a leader that will not only lead within the American borders, but also must be capable of maintaining power and presence on the global front.
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"The American people in 2014 and also November 2016 are going to be looking for leaders who want to work to restore America's leadership in the world," Cruz said. "It increases my interest in doing everything I can to change the direction we're on."
In the interview, Cruz made clear that he wants to eliminate ISIS. After the atrocious deaths to American journalists, Cruz said it is imperative for the United States to defeat ISIS before they recruit more people and gain more momentum.
"What we ought to have is a direct, concerted, overwhelming air campaign to take them out," Cruz said. "I think it is an urgent concern to strike while ISIS is vulnerable."
Although Cruz was critical of Obama for his lack of action in dealing with ISIS, Obama has authorized over 100 airstrikes against ISIS troops in Iraq in August. Cruz also said he believes the president should seek congressional approval before initiating further offensives in Iraq and airstrikes in Syria. Not all Republicans feel that way, however.
Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., who also made remarks last weekend hinting at a potential 2016 presidential run, wrote a letter to the White House on Friday saying that the president should not seek the approval of Congress to begin airstrikes in Syria and should act fast to eliminate ISIS. Rubio was also very critical of Obama's handling of ISIS.
Cruz advized getting involved in Syria is to go after ISIS, adding that solving the Syrian conflict should not be the concern of the United States.
"The focus should be Iraq, but the real focus should be taking out ISIS," Cruz said. "Within Syria, it should not be our objective to try to resolve the civil war in Syria."
In the past, Cruz has said that his own foreign policy would mirror that of Ronald Reagan, who believed in the notion of a strong national defense to promote peace in the world. But as Reagan's America led the world against communism, does Cruz feel the modern American president needs to do a better job leading the world from the atrocities of terror?
Cruz did not elaborate much in the ABC interview on how a president should restore America's leadership in the world. Although Cruz wants America to have a stronger force internationally, he said that does not necessarily mean always sending troops or using force in areas of high international conflict.
"I think U.S. leadership is critical in the world," Cruz said in an interview with "This Week" in March. "We should be very reluctant to deploy military force abroad, but I think there is a vital role, just as Ronald Reagan did."
Cruz received some criticism from another potential 2016 Republican presidential candidate for comparison of his own foreign policy ideas to Reagan's policies. Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., who has recently denied claims that he is an anti-interventionist, wrote in a March Breitbart editorial that politicians who present themselves as the next Ronald Reagan could be lacking their own detailed foreign policy.
"Every Republican likes to think he or she is the next Ronald Reagan," Paul wrote. "I don't claim to be the next Ronald Reagan nor do I attempt to disparage fellow Republicans as not being sufficiently Reaganesque. But I will remind anyone who thinks we will win elections by trashing previous Republican nominees or holding oneself out as some paragon in the mold of Reagan, that splintering the party is not the route to victory."
