Mitt Romney

I have no idea whether or not Ted Cruz will be a credible Presidential candidate. Who knows anymore? Especially with this Republican Party.

All I know is that he’ll be entertaining to watch. He’s the first GOP candidate in recent memory that, when it comes to substantive issues, is essentially gaffe-proof. While other candidates might try and avoid taking extreme positions or saying controversial things that could be damaging in a general election, or be forced into doing all kinds of verbal jiu-jitsu to explain their voting records to Tea Partiers that don’t care about what it takes to get stuff done in Washington, Cruz (assuming he remains true to form) doesn’t care about any of that.

Even Rick Santorum, by virtue of the fact he was part of the GOP Senate leadership while in Washington, had some votes on his record that he struggled to explain to conservative voters (like his vote in favor of “No Child Left Behind”). Cruz won’t have to worry about that since he’s actively trying to be the ultra-conservative culture warrior who won’t be outflanked on the right by anyone. Talking Points Memo has argued that he will push the entire GOP field to the right – and maybe that’s his #1 goal. Whether it’s a winning strategy in the general election is another question.