Ted Cruz: 'The New Voice' Of The GOP?
On the same day this week that House Tea Party Caucus co-founder Michele Bachmann, R-Minn., announced she won't seek re-election, the fortunes of another Tea Party favorite continued to soar.
Freshman GOP Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas headlined a big fundraiser thrown by the New York Republican Party in the heart of Manhattan. More than 600 Republicans gathered to write checks to their struggling party, which has no statewide officeholders.
But it was not exactly a welcoming committee that awaited Cruz outside the Grand Hyatt hotel.
"How many dead? Go home, Ted!" chanted several dozen advocates of tougher gun laws. They waved signs scolding Cruz for his vote blocking a bipartisan measure expanding background checks for gun buyers.
"I think it's really ridiculous, all these people coming to New York to raise money when their voting records are really diametrically opposed to what New Yorkers want — and what the American people want — when it comes to gun safety," said Leah Gunn Barrett, executive director of New Yorkers Against Gun Violence.
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