MYRTLE BEACH, S.C. (AP) — Sen. Ted Cruz urged arch-conservatives on Sunday to help nominate a Republican from their own ranks in 2016 or risk losing a third consecutive national election. The unspoken message: someone like him.
Cruz called GOP nominees like Mitt Romney in 2012, John McCain in 2008 and Bob Dole in 1996 “good, honorable and decent men” but not conservative enough. All lost their bids for the presidency.
“If we nominate a candidate in that mold, the same people who stayed home in 2008 and 2012 will stay home in 2016 and the Democrats will win again,” Cruz told hundreds of activists at the South Carolina Tea Party Coalition Convention.
