Obama Veterans Laugh at the Idea That Ted Cruz Can Copy Their Formula

Barack Obama's win may have opened the door for greenhorn candidates, but it's a small door.

U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) addresses the 42nd annual Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) February 26, 2015 in National Harbor, Maryland.
Photo by Alex Wong/Getty Images

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By David Weigel

March 24, 2015 at 7:47 PM UTC

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The specter of Barack Obama is haunting Ted Cruz.

"The success of Obama—at the ballot box, at least, in 2008 and 2012—is helping to fuel the aspirations of Cruz and other Republican hopefuls in the opening chapter of this campaign," wrote Jeff Zeleny in a CNN analysis of the Texas Senator's presidential campaign launch. When Politico's Manu Raju asked Texas Senator John Cornyn if two years in the Senate was too skimpy for a presidential candidate, Cornyn asked if he was "talking about Barack Obama." On Fox News, Charles Krauthammer subtly yet brutally reminded a panel that "we already tried a first term Senator."