Ted Cruz Suspends Campaign After Indiana Loss

SEES PATH TO NOMINATION “FORECLOSED”

by Sharon Rondeau

(May 3, 2016) — Presidential candidate Ted Cruz, who is also a U.S. senator from Texas, announced on Tuesday evening that he would suspend his campaign for the 2016 Republican nomination following a distant second-place showing in the Indiana primary.

Cruz made the announcement after the results of the primary showed that rival Donald Trump earned a plurality of Republican votes.

Referring to a way to secure the Republican nomination despite trailing Trump by several hundred delegates, Cruz told supporters, “Tonight, I’m sorry to say, it appears that path has been foreclosed.”

Cruz was the first to announce his candidacy in March of last year out what became 17 Republican candidates, many of whom suspended their campaigns over the fall and winter months as the political season began to gain momentum.

After Sen. Marco Rubio suspended his campaign in March, Cruz, Trump and Ohio Gov. John Kasich remained.

Following primary contests in five Northeastern states last Tuesday, Cruz appeared determined to win Indiana’s primary and assured voters that he would continue his campaign to the latest primary states, which include California and New Jersey on June 7.  Cruz appeared to be focusing on the possibility of a “contested” convention during which he might make the case that he should receive the nomination.

Last Wednesday, Cruz announced that he had chosen former 2016 presidential candidate Carly Fiorina as his running mate.

Trump has not yet announced who he might select to be his vice-presidential candidate.

At approximately 8:59 PM EDT, Republican National Committee Chairman Reince Preibus tweeted, “.@realDonaldTrump will be presumtive @GOP nominee, we all need to unite and focus on defeating @HillaryClinton #NeverClinton.”

Priebus had previously said that a candidate acquiring 1,237 delegates, the number reported necessary to win the nomination, is not necessarily guaranteed that distinction at this summer’s convention.  Pundits have postulated for months that the Republican Party, unhappy with Trump as the presumptive nominee, might fracture irreparably.

Since launching his campaign in June, Trump had sporadically, but more regularly in recent weeks, focused on the question of whether or not Cruz is constitutionally eligible to serve as president given his birth in Calgary, Alberta, Canada rather than in the United States. Article II, Section 1, clause 5 of the U.S. Constitution requires the nation’s chief executive to be a “natural born Citizen,” a term not precisely defined by the document’s framers.

A number of ballot challenges and lawsuits have been filed during the primary season charging that Cruz is not eligible to serve, during which constitutional scholars and law professors on both sides of the issue have made their opinions known.  Thus far, judges have ruled that the plaintiffs bringing the case did not have “standing” or that Cruz’s name would appear on the state’s ballot because of his presumed birth to a U.S.-citizen mother, which they said render him eligible.

Many Americans, particularly those in their 50s and 60s, associate the term “natural born Citizen” with a mandatory birth in the United States. Some go farther, claiming that the Founding Fathers intended that the president and commander-in-chief, in order to have the least chance of foreign influence, must be born to parents who were already citizens of the new nation.

The relevant clause was written to include an exception for those who had fought the American Revolution against Great Britain and won their independence from the British Crown.  Indeed, Founding Fathers George Washington, James Madison, John Adams and Thomas Jefferson all served as president after having been born citizens of the Crown.

In 2007, doubts arose that Barack Hussein Obama was eligible to serve as president as a result of news reports stating that he had been born in Indonesia or Kenya. Obama had written on his 2008 campaign website that he was born a dual citizen of Great Britain, which governed Kenya at the time, and the United States.

Questions about Obama’s eligibility have never been answered, and in 2012 his long-form birth certificate and Selective Service registration form were declared “computer-generated forgeries” by a criminal investigative team from Maricopa County, AZ.

The White House has not addressed the Maricopa County Cold Case Posse’s conclusions, nor has Congress launched an investigation.

On Saturday, at a campaign stop in Greenfield, IN, Cruz’s wife referred to her husband as “an immigrant,” a remark later reported by mainstream media outlets.  While the media has not delved into the origins and possible meaning of the “natural born Citizen” requirement, it has provided some coverage of the question of Cruz’s eligibility over the last 18 months as his pundits predicted his presidential aspirations.

In contrast, the media allowed no discussion of Obama’s background, birthplace or eligibility, resorting to ridicule, derision and silencing of anyone who attempted to voice his concern.

On Monday, Cruz sought out attendees at a Trump rally in an attempt to convince them that Trump is dishonest and deceitful.  Responding to a Trump supporter who finished Cruz’s sentence, “America is a better place–” with “without you,” Cruz said, “Thank you for those kind sentiments. Let me point out that I have treated you respectfully this entire time and a question that every one here should ask—”

While Cruz paused, the same Trump supporter quickly jumped in with, “Are you from Canada?”

Cruz did not address the question.

In August 2013, an article published by The Dallas Morning News stated that Cruz had been a dual U.S.-Canadian citizen for his entire life, something Cruz’s Senate office denied. However, in May of the following year, Cruz made application to renounce his Canadian citizenship, a process completed approximately 30 days later.

Also in 2013, Fox News’s seasoned political reporter Carl Cameron stated unequivocally that Cruz could not serve as president because of his foreign birth.

In remarks made responsive to the Indiana results, Trump complimented Cruz as someone with “an amazing future” despite having routinely referred to him over the last few months as “Lyin’ Ted.”

Kasich said he will remain in the race despite having won only his home state and fewer than 200 delegates from the many primary contests which have taken place thus far.