Two newcomers, Senators Rand Paul of Kentucky and Ted Cruz of Texas, are the hottest figures in the dominant conservative wing of the Republican Party. In markedly different ways, they both claim to be the heirs to the party’s contemporary patron saint, Ronald Reagan. …
In the next presidential race, conservatives are determined to tap one of their own. Perhaps someone else will emerge, but for now — to borrow an analogy from college basketball’s March Madness — Paul, 51, and Cruz, 43, would be the top two seeds in the conservative bracket. CONT.
Al Hunt, Bloomberg