As we’ve said before at RedState, Ted Cruz brought the house down at the RedState gathering in Atlanta. His story and his success as Texas Solicitor General are gripping. He knows exactly what he stands for, and he is as complete a conservative as you could ask for. At the moment he is the only declared Republican in the race.

Even though the election is 14 months away, this is a new era in electoral politics, and the race is on. A couple of weeks ago the Tyler Morning Telegraph (Tyler, TX) weighed in with an editorial called Candidate Cruz May Pique Voter Interest (which I think is a huge understatement).

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Ted Cruz was the Solicitor General for Texas, and is running for Attorney General. He gave a terrific speech, telling us the story of defending Texas’ 10th amendment rights against international courts and the Justice Department.

A very engaging speaker, he had us spellbound throughout. His story of his father escaping Cuba is amazing to hear.

Ted Cruz from David Thompson on Vimeo.

This interview is from last week’s RedState gathering. Ted Cruz is the guy running for Texas Attorney General - and as you can see, he’s pretty serious about this race. He’s also pretty serious about using the new social media to get his message out:

I think that I have maybe one more of these interviews left: as always, you should check out Dave_in_Fla’s blog for the speeches themselves, as he was kind enough to do a proper taping of Saturday - and without us asking. We’re lucky in our readers.

Moe Lane

Crossposted to Moe Lane.

This weekend, 200 RedStaters gathered together in Atlanta to hear from real conservative leaders and candidates.

We were specific in our invitations — we wanted conservatives, not just Republicans. The message was phenomenal. The time shared was outstanding.

But now we have work to do. We cannot return to our former ways. We must commit to continuous activity on behalf of these outstanding men and women.

If you live in their area, help them. Volunteer. If you don’t live near them, consider opening your checkbook or pulling out your credit card.

We can take back the GOP. We can win on a message of small government. But we have to step up and help.

Each person listed below paid their own way to spend time with RedState activists in Atlanta. This was not a gathering for you to hear from them, but for them to hear from you. And they did hear from you.

Now let them hear from you again — volunteer, talk to your friends, donate, do whatever you can to help them in their elections.

• Rep. Roy Blunt (R-MO) Candidate for the United States Senate
• Former Congressman Pat Toomey (R-PA) Candidate for the United States Senate
• Sen. Jim DeMint (R-SC)
• Gov. Rick Perry (R-TX)
• Rep. Tom Price (R-GA) Chairman, Republican Study Committee
• Hon. Karen Handel (R-GA) Georgia’s Secretary of State & Candidate for Governor
• Liz Cheney (okay, she’s not a candidate, but she should be)
• Ken Cuccinelli (R-VA) Virginia State Senator & Candidate for Virginia Attorney General
• Michael Williams (R-TX) Texas Railroad Commissioner, Candidate for the United States Senate
• Marco Rubio (R-FL) Former Speaker of the Florida House of Representatives, Candidate for the United States Senate
• Ted Cruz (R-TX) Texas Solicitor General, Candidate for Texas Attorney General
• Nikki Haley (R-SC) Member, South Carolina House of Representatives, Candidate for Governor

Imagine a United States Senate with Michael Williams, Pat Toomey, and Marco Rubio. Imagine a Supreme Court hearing from Ken Cuccinelli and Ted Cruz on states’ rights. And imagine having two ladies like Karen Handel and Nikki Haley slashing goverment bugets and taxes from their respective Governors’ Mansions.

We can make all that a reality.

As you can tell, we’ve been away and busy at the RedState Gathering.

Liz Cheney spoke. She was amazing.

“America needs a commander in chief,” she said, ” not a global community organizer.”

Marco Rubio, Ted Cruz, Nikki Haley, Michael Williams, Ken Cuccinelli, Karen Handel, Tom Price, Pat Toomey, Roy Blunt, Jim DeMint, and Rick Perry all joined us in person or via video.

It was an amazing time. Stand by for lots of video and pictures.

Senator John Cornyn has been on the receiving end of a lot of punches lately over the NRSC’s decision to endorse Charlie Crist over Marco Rubio in the Florida Senate race.

A lot of it is fair criticism, especially considering only days before he endorsed Crist, Senator Cornyn said the NRSC would stay neutral. Not all of the criticism is fair, however. I would crawl over broken glass to get John Cornyn re-elected to the Senate. He is a great leader, a genuinely good person, and an articulate spokesman for the GOP.

But he has badly miscalculated on the Rubio matter and his miscalculation has been made greater by his failure to endorse Ted Cruz in the Texas Republican primary for Texas Attorney General — a position Cornyn himself once held.

John Cornyn is known to believe the GOP must engage in effective outreach to the Hispanic community in order to expand its coalition. He has, in the past, encouraged Hispanic involvement in the GOP and has tried to encourage good Hispanic Republicans to seek office.

Right now, Senate Republicans are running scared of the Sotomayor nomination because they don’t want to be seen as burning bridges with the Hispanic community. The Senate Republican leadership, typically feckless and cowardly the moment controversy arises, is gun shy.

It did not have to be that way. Had Cornyn practiced what he regularly preaches, the GOP would not be in the box.

Were Marco Rubio the GOP’s preferred candidate for the United States Senate, Rubio would be in a position to serve as a credible GOP voice on Sotomayor. Had the NRSC only made a different choice, the choices Republicans Senators now make regarding Sotomayor would be easier.

Likewise, had Senator Cornyn endorsed Ted Cruz, he would have even greater authority on the issue of Hispanics being welcome in the Republican Party.

While some have argued Ted Cruz is not significantly accomplished enough to be Attorney General, and therefore not worth big name Republicans like Cornyn bothering with him, arguably his opponent in the Republican primary is less so. Cruz is the only Hispanic to have ever served as a law clerk to the Chief Justice of the United States. He served for five years as Solicitor General of Texas, a position John Cornyn created when Cornyn was Attorney General. Cruz is an immigrant living the American dream.

He would be an articulate voice the Republicans could use to combat the media’s charges of racism should the GOP get a spine and oppose the Sotomayor nomination.

Had John Cornyn only practiced what he preached, he could be leading the GOP on a path out of the wilderness with a more diverse group of candidates and elected officials.

There is still time. He could both endorse a guy like Ted Cruz and move the NRSC to being neutral in Florida or at least publicly pledging to spend not one penny, directly or indirectly, to help Charlie Crist — a white Pennsylvania transplant running against Rubio, the articulate Hispanic candidate who embodies all that Cornyn says the GOP needs.

The GOP could oppose Sotomayor without alienating Hispanics if only they would, you know, start supporting Hispanic candidates. John Cornyn could lead the way.