I am so tired of voting for presidential candidates that make me hold my nose and cast my vote.  

I listened to Ted Cruz's announcement  to run for president today, and I swear, he spoke for everything I believe in. Yes, I know how politicos will say what I want to hear, but this man has me by the short hairs.
It is a time for Liberty. It a a time to reclaim the Constitution.

Listen to what he has to say before you write him off.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GOvyfviKXmc

I'm not sure that Cruz is the POTUS that American needs right now.  In my opinion, a far-Right candidate will be just as polarizing and detrimental to this country as Obama has been for these past 6 years.  Here is what I am looking for:
1.  A 2-term Governor.  Former executives know how to manage.  Former Senators/legislators tend to want to impose governance (laws).  
2.  NOT a lawyer.  All I need to say on this topic is: Nixon, Clinton, and Obama.  
3.  A RINO or a DINO, please.  Really, abortion and gay marriage are NOT the major issues of our time.  F@ck that sh!t.  We need someone who can work across party lines and get this country back on track.

If a Republican wants to get in avoid abortion and gay marriage.....

1. So, you would vote for Scott Walker?

2.  I think more important than a degree in whatever, it is the values the individual believes in and has in his heart..  
    I confess to being a sucker for someone who says the Constitution matters.
    For someone who says my rights are given to me by God.
    That there is no compromising the 2nd Amendment.
    That parents and students deserve the right of "school choice"
    That Common Core is a disaster and he will abolish it if elected.
    That the UN can kiss our collective asses.
    That Iran can not be allowed to become a nuclear power.
     That militant Islam must be eradicated.

3.  I think political history shows us that when Repubes compromise, it is the Dems who get everything they want.
    My idea of reaching across the political isle is to slap the crap out of the Progressive/Socialist scum.  They play by a different set of rules and unless we accept that, the country we grew up in is    GONE

I would love to see Cruz as POTUS, but real world political games... he s too far right, Fatgov has a better chance of getting elected... if he would keep his mouth shut. Cruz is playing to the Conservative Christian Base... he can not go middle of the road fast enough to win... Perry is a much better choice, as for Walker? I have my doubts, look how Christie is courting the unions of Sweeney. We just had a solid Republican, been elected for decades, does a great job lose out in the Convention to a never won, lost once who has Union money/votes behind him... It is a game, I learned from some of the best, it is a game and the election is done before the ballot is cast

Wind,

Two things I get from your post;

You are a "pastel colors" kind of guy.

And "unions" are responsible for a lot of the mess this country is in.

Bottom line: politics today is all about winning the Centralist vote.  The far Right will vote Republican and the far Left will vote Democrat, regardless of the candidate or the campaign.  Winning in 2016 is going to come down to winning over the ~20% of people who do not identify strongly with either party and could vote either way.  

IMHO, Romney’s alienation of the Centralists is one of the primary reasons why Obama won his second term in 2012.  And, the behavior of COTUS over the past 4 months has many Centralists rethinking their support for Republicans in 2014.  A candidate like Cruz is not going to win the hearts and minds of the middle.  In fact, I believe he will more than likely alienate people with Centralist views.  And that is why, in spite of the fact that I really like everything Cruz has to say, I don’t want to see him win the Republican nomination.

you can't figure theWind out, some things are black and white, the law says you have a place of public commendation, you have to make a cake for a gay, a black, an Asian or even a lawyer.... period.  Shall not be infringed is just that, see black and white... now for pastels... it is close to summer of course the pastels will sell better.... ok Unions, now they are pastel... some are corporations that sell labor, to a captive market.... some like LEOs protect the members from being abused, add civil service there, I can tell you stories of .gov abuse there. Teachers? they are more like political clubs anymore. Politicians, administrators, manafgers are black and white, mostly crooks, taking bribes, passing a law against it and finding a new way to take bribes before the ink is dry

A couple of points from your post need further discourse.  Romney lost the last presidential election because there were millions of Republican voters known as the "religious right"  who decided to stay home and not cast a vote for Romney.  Who in the world, besides Romney could be called moderate and centrist?  Let me answer my own question, Jeb Bush. These two men define the meaning of squishy pragmatist.

I think that your definition of Centrist may have another term, "the undecided".  If these two  definitions fit the same group, then you are correct and these are the morons that go to the voting booth on election day without any knowledge of what the pressing issues are, and they are the ones that select the person who will  govern over the rest of us.  

I see in Ted Cruz an individual who stands for principled and conservative ideals. When you see someone walk around a stage speaking their mind, without the need for a teleprompter, be assured he speaks from the heart.  

Ted Cruz has a Reaganesque air about him.

To hell with the RINOs that the Repubes have nominated in the past.  McCain and Romney were hoisted on us by those politicos that want the status quo to remain.   A lot of good that has done for our country.

We need someone who thinks like a Conservative and breathes like one.

Would you vote for a man who openly says he would repeal ObamaCare?
Would you vote for a man who openly says he favors a fair tax and wants to abolish the Internal Revenue Service?
Would you vote for a man who opposes Obama’s efforts to offer illegal aliens amnesty and promises to secure the borders?
Would you vote for a man who decries a federal government “that wages an assault on our religious liberty”?
Would you vote for a man who wants a federal government that “works to defend the sanctity of human life” and would “uphold the sacrament of marriage”?
Would you vote for a man who defends our Second Amendment rights and condemns the effort ban ammunition?
Would you vote for a man who condemns a federal government that seeks to dictate school curriculums and wants to repeal “every word of Common Core”?
Would you vote for a man who would stand “unapologetically with the nation of Israel”?
Would you vote for a man who has pledged that he would do everything he could to ensure that Iran does not acquire a nuclear weapon?
Would you vote for a man who openly says he would do everything he could to defeat radical Islamic terrorism?

I have to say that these are my heart felt issues. I am a Conservative before a Republican and I am not going to take it anymore.

If you disagree with these issues, then Ted Cruz is not you man, but if you believe in these issue and they reflect what you want for yourself and your children, then spread the word and don't let the Repubes make the choice for you.

Name recognition is a big part of getting elected.... How many people will hear Cruz and think right wing nut?  I would love to see him as POTUS, but the electorate will never put him in

"Oh ye of little faith."

I will pull his lever if he is there, but I am in the real world

Which one?

Pastel or black and white?

Full living color

Then you are good to go!