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| Ted Cruz announces presidential run: 'Imagine' a new America – live | |
| (35 minutes later) | |
| 10.59am ET14:59 | |
| At the top of the blog we’ve swapped out the video stream of the Cruz event for the stream of the Clinton event. NB: those seated people with binders are not at the Cruz event. | |
| 10.53am ET14:53 | |
| Back at the Clinton event at the Center for American Progress, a guy in glasses with a glass of water in front of him says “What we’re learning on the ground is that there’s no silver bullet to these urban challenges.” | |
| Updated at 10.53am ET | |
| 10.52am ET14:52 | |
| Cruz finishes to cheers | |
| “We will restore that shining city on a hill that is the United States of America. Thank you and God bless you.” | |
| Cruz is done. Big cheers at Liberty University. “Almost a megachurch sermon,” somebody on CNN says. They’re right, from the pacing evangelist all the way down to the electric bass. | |
| 10.49am ET14:49 | |
| There are some supporters of presidential hopeful Rand Paul – Stand with Rand types – in the audience today, as in any campus crowd. And apparently there are some castration threats out against them. | |
| Getting a little chippy on Liberty U Yik Yak pic.twitter.com/iKO2X602DV | |
| 10.48am ET14:48 | |
| Cruz announces candidacy | |
| “Today I am announcing that I am running for president of the United States,” Cruz says. | |
| First. | |
| 10.44am ET14:44 | |
| Cruz: 'Imagine' | |
| The touchstone word of Cruz’s speech is “imagine,” whether he is inviting the crowd to imagine the abolition of Common Core education standards or the abolition of the IRS or “imagine a president who stands unapologetically with the nation of Israel” or “imagine a president who says I will honor the Constitution and under no circumstances will Iran be allowed to acquire a nuclear weapon.” | |
| That’s in the Constitution? Whatever. Let us be the first of a million people to make this joke: | |
| He’s still going. | |
| “Imagine it’s 1775, and you and I were sitting there in Richmond listening to Patrick Henry say, ‘Give me Liberty or Give me Death.’” | |
| 10.38am ET14:38 | |
| Cruz has been speaking for about 15 minutes now and he still hasn’t declared his candidacy for president. He’s throwing progressively larger rhetorical punches, though. | |
| And now a hint at why Cruz picked 23 March for his presidential announcement: | |
| “Five years ago today, the president signed Obamacare into law,” he says, to resounding boos in the hall. | |
| “Imagine in 2017 a new president signing legislation repealing every word of Obamacare,” Cruz says. | |
| The question is, would any presidential candidate dare to campaign on such a platform. | |
| Here’s good news: We’ll be talking about flat taxes in 2016! “Imagine a flat tax, that lets every American fill out his taxes on a post card,” Cruz says. “Imagine abolishing the IRS.” | |
| 'Imagine abolishing the IRS' Cruz says, to a massive cheer, surprisingly even bigger than the 'imagine having jobs when you graduate' line | |
| Updated at 10.40am ET | |
| 10.33am ET14:33 | |
| Pop Quiz: which phrases did Ted Cruz just use in a passage of his speech (he seems to be working without notes) about “reigniting the promise of America”? (Hint, it’s e) | |
| a) American exceptionalism | |
| b) clarion voice | |
| c) City on a Hill | |
| d) unique nation in the history of the world | |
| e) all of the above | |
| 10.31am ET14:31 | |
| Clinton has partners on her panel and has passed along the microphone for a moment. We’re jumping fully into the Cruz canoe. | |
| Cruz has been narrating the dramatic history of his family background and of his childhood and student years. | |
| Cruz is telling his life story in the heroic third person. “Where he was alone and scared... At the age of 17, he went to get two jobs to help pay his way through school...” | |
| People cheering at random places Cruz mentions (Kenya, California, etc). Also at mention that Mrs Cruz is Ted's BFF pic.twitter.com/TpQ60kcm9U | |
| 10.27am ET14:27 | |
| OK, we’re going to go a cappella. Who said it? | |
| They’re both drinking far too much. They’re living a fast life. When I was three, my father decided to leave my mother and I. | |
| It’s not about race. White and black citizens of a city like Atlanta both have low upward mobility. | |
| Invited him to a Bible study... and there my father gave his life to Jesus Christ. | |
| We need to think hard about what we’re going to do, now that people are moving back to and living in cities. | |
| [Applause] there are people who wonder if faith is real. | |
| 10.23am ET14:23 | 10.23am ET14:23 |
| We’ve got them now, speaking in parallel mere miles apart, your 2016 presidential candidates (Hillary Clinton has not declared a presidential candidacy): | We’ve got them now, speaking in parallel mere miles apart, your 2016 presidential candidates (Hillary Clinton has not declared a presidential candidacy): |
| Clinton: How do we make sure our cities are good places to live and work? | Clinton: How do we make sure our cities are good places to live and work? |
| Cruz: God Bless Liberty University. I am thrilled to join you today at the largest Christian University in the world. Today I want to talk with you about the promise of America. | Cruz: God Bless Liberty University. I am thrilled to join you today at the largest Christian University in the world. Today I want to talk with you about the promise of America. |
| Clinton: What we can do in partnership with the public and private sector. Let me just make three quick points. I think that we for a long time at the federal level but also the state level.... | Clinton: What we can do in partnership with the public and private sector. Let me just make three quick points. I think that we for a long time at the federal level but also the state level.... |
| Cruz: She had a difficult father. A man who drank far too much and frankly didn’t think that women should be educated. | Cruz: She had a difficult father. A man who drank far too much and frankly didn’t think that women should be educated. |
| Clinton: But that raises the second point. How do we repair and update our water infrastructure. To say nothing of keeping up with an electric grid... | Clinton: But that raises the second point. How do we repair and update our water infrastructure. To say nothing of keeping up with an electric grid... |
| Cruz: [Applause] Imagine a teenage boy. | Cruz: [Applause] Imagine a teenage boy. |
| Clinton: Potholes exploding, all kinds of issues. We have to really invest. | Clinton: Potholes exploding, all kinds of issues. We have to really invest. |
| Updated at 10.25am ET | Updated at 10.25am ET |
| 10.17am ET14:17 | 10.17am ET14:17 |
| Clinton to speak | Clinton to speak |
| Is the contrast between the soft-rock uplift in the air at the Ted Cruz event and Hillary Clinton’s imminent appearance – she’s being introduced now – at a wonky Center for American Progress roundtable telling, for how the 2016 presidential election will play out? | Is the contrast between the soft-rock uplift in the air at the Ted Cruz event and Hillary Clinton’s imminent appearance – she’s being introduced now – at a wonky Center for American Progress roundtable telling, for how the 2016 presidential election will play out? |
| We report, you decide. Here’s a video stream of the Clinton event: | We report, you decide. Here’s a video stream of the Clinton event: |
| 10.13am ET14:13 | 10.13am ET14:13 |
| We’ve posted a video stream of the Cruz event atop the blog. Enjoy. The band, if you haven’t been listening, is kind of late-STP with an extremely diluted sprinkle of Monuments. | We’ve posted a video stream of the Cruz event atop the blog. Enjoy. The band, if you haven’t been listening, is kind of late-STP with an extremely diluted sprinkle of Monuments. |
| 10.08am ET14:08 | 10.08am ET14:08 |
| At the Cruz event so far: rock, faith: | At the Cruz event so far: rock, faith: |
| 'Our God is greater, our God is stronger,' sings the rock band opening for Cruz. All stand. It's uncomfortable. pic.twitter.com/3q1hFRQ4Ri | 'Our God is greater, our God is stronger,' sings the rock band opening for Cruz. All stand. It's uncomfortable. pic.twitter.com/3q1hFRQ4Ri |
| 10.04am ET14:04 | 10.04am ET14:04 |
| Guardian Washington bureau chief Dan Roberts (@robertsdan) is with Clinton this morning, while the Guardian’s Alan Yuhas is at the Cruz event: | Guardian Washington bureau chief Dan Roberts (@robertsdan) is with Clinton this morning, while the Guardian’s Alan Yuhas is at the Cruz event: |
| Ted Cruz to announce he's fronting a five-piece rock band with several Liberty University students pic.twitter.com/diOYnsOktB | Ted Cruz to announce he's fronting a five-piece rock band with several Liberty University students pic.twitter.com/diOYnsOktB |
| 9.59am ET13:59 | 9.59am ET13:59 |
| Good morning and welcome to our live coverage of the biggest day in American politics since the third season of House of Cards sucked. Whatever else happens this Monday – barring some truly unforeseen twist – historians will remember 23 March, 2015, as the official start of the 2016 presidential campaign. | Good morning and welcome to our live coverage of the biggest day in American politics since the third season of House of Cards sucked. Whatever else happens this Monday – barring some truly unforeseen twist – historians will remember 23 March, 2015, as the official start of the 2016 presidential campaign. |
| Republican senator Ted Cruz of Texas is scheduled to declare his presidential candidacy in a speech at Liberty University, the Christian institution in Lynchburg, Virginia, at 10am ET. Cruz’s was expected to the be first of what may be as many as 20 (twenty) eventual announcements on the Republican side of a willingness to lead the country out of the nightmare of the Barack Obama years. | Republican senator Ted Cruz of Texas is scheduled to declare his presidential candidacy in a speech at Liberty University, the Christian institution in Lynchburg, Virginia, at 10am ET. Cruz’s was expected to the be first of what may be as many as 20 (twenty) eventual announcements on the Republican side of a willingness to lead the country out of the nightmare of the Barack Obama years. |
| Another major national politician, Hillary Clinton, also was expected to speak today, twice actually. Following a morning speech on income inequality at the Center for American Progress, Clinton was to deliver the keynote address at a ceremony sponsored by Syracuse University to recognize the country’s top political reporter, as identified by the judges for the Toner Prize for Excellence in Political Reporting. The recipient will be honored with $5,000 and a ceremonial blocking by Clinton of that reporter’s phone number. | Another major national politician, Hillary Clinton, also was expected to speak today, twice actually. Following a morning speech on income inequality at the Center for American Progress, Clinton was to deliver the keynote address at a ceremony sponsored by Syracuse University to recognize the country’s top political reporter, as identified by the judges for the Toner Prize for Excellence in Political Reporting. The recipient will be honored with $5,000 and a ceremonial blocking by Clinton of that reporter’s phone number. |
| Join us for a day of politics fun! | Join us for a day of politics fun! |
| I'm running for President and I hope to earn your support! pic.twitter.com/0UTqaIoytP | I'm running for President and I hope to earn your support! pic.twitter.com/0UTqaIoytP |