Cruz adds weight to our side of the scale. That's enough for me. Even if it's not as much weight as someone else, it doesn't matter. Same goes for Rand.
There are those that work towards liberty and those that work towards tyranny. As long as any of these folks don't try to infringe upon me, they are good people to have around.
He's already voted to give our medical data to the Feds. Seems like a small thing, but can you imagine what this government is capable of? No compromises.
That, and that he's hawkish toward Iran, is enough for mee. No thanks. I'm not a perfectionist by any means, I like Rand Paul and Mike Lee so far, but Cruz isn't honestly good enough for me. I mean, is he better than the average senator? I'm sure. But he's still part of the establishment, and there's no way I'd ever vote for him unless he changed his views and proved it with a better voting record.
Then again, Rand may have an influence on him yet. I can't totally give up ATM. But what I've seen... I think he's too deeply flawed for me to seriously support him. He compromises too much (On my principles, not necessarily his own).
Ted Cruz said he opposed the growth of government during the Bush presidency in his CPAC speech. He also voted against foreign aid. Not sure where he stood on previous wars because he doesn't talk about them. I agree that on Iran, he tends to be overly hawkish. When Cruz actually votes for war, then I'm alright with denouncing him. Until then, I'm not going to judge him on that. Domestically, he's definitely up there with Lee and Cruz.
Also, is a friend really enough to disqualify him? I'm sure there's people on here that have friends that are liberal, neoconservative, socialist, nationalist, etc. Doesn't mean they agree with them on everything.
War is a big one for me. I can definitely live with the wrong views on little issues like privatizing roads or immigration or other issues that I hold positions for consistency but am not necessarily all that upset over. I can even live with a mistake or two on something a bit more substantial, drug laws, background checks, abortion (I might make this more of a litmus test but the GOP so obviously uses it as a game, so even while I'm calling for the death of abortion doctors and the release of vigilantes who bravely end their lives... I'm still not using this as a voting litmus test). But foreign policy? That... just no... I'm not really willing to compromise much there. Rand Paul is just within my realm of acceptability there, and that only because he hasn't advocated preemptive war. If Rand ever said wanted to bomb Iran, he'd instantly lose my support.
My belief in just how important foreign policy is was just reenforced by that "You like Ron Paul, except on foreign policy" video. That one's a deal breaker. Anyone who is not anti-war has no business being in the House, let alone the Senate, even if he votes with us on every single non-war issue.
