Barrington, New Hampshire (CNN) U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz was delivering his normal rhetoric during a New Hampshire speech on Sunday, hitting the current administration on the economy, Obamacare and national security.

"And the Obama-Clinton foreign policy of leading from behind -- the whole world is on fire," the senator from Texas declared.

But he was stopped by a 3-year-old girl sitting in the front row.

"The world is on fire?" she yelled out.

Cruz took it and ran with it.

"The world is on fire -- yes! Your world is on fire," he exclaimed, seizing the moment as the crowd burst out into laughter. "But you know what? Your mommy's here and everyone's here to make sure that the world you grow up in is even better."

The scene -- while cute -- captured Cruz's determination to remain unwavering in his views and language, never backtracking. There was no "just kidding" or "that was only a metaphor" to assuage the little girl.

Instead, the first-term senator continued with his speechifying and used the moment to illustrate his point that while things are bad now, they could get better -- especially, cough cough, if he becomes president.

A woman who identified herself as the child's mother named Michelle later told the WRKO's Kuhner Report that her child's reaction came in a "high question kind of voice," but that her daughter was "quite happy" in the aftermath.

"She really, basically was like 'oh, oh, this is a great man.' He's the firefighter in her mind as a three-year-old. And was quite happy and she wanted a cookie."

Breaking from the mold

Cruz is bringing the resolute disruptor brand that he's built in Congress out on the trail as he lays the groundwork for a White House bid. This weekend, he was on a two-day swing through New Hampshire, stopping Sunday afternoon at an event put on by the Strafford County GOP.

In the same way Cruz challenges establishment Republicans in the Senate, he's trying to build a campaign that breaks from the mold and showcases his firebrand conservatism. For example, his first question from the audience came from a woman who wanted to know how Cruz was going to make campaign finance reform a reality, a huge issue in the first-in-the-nation primary state.

But Cruz argued that not only is money a form of speech, it emboldens speech. "The answer is not to muzzle citizens; it's to empower citizens across the country," he said.

Throwing a bone to his questioner, however, he said he supports requiring that campaign donations be disclosed.

Photos: Potential 2016 presidential candidates Photos: Potential 2016 presidential candidates Former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush has said his decision to run for the Republican nomination will be based on two things: his family and whether he can lift America's spirit. His father and brother are former Presidents. Hide Caption 1 of 19 Photos: Potential 2016 presidential candidates Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker has created a political committee that will help him travel and raise money while he considers a 2016 bid. Additionally, billionaire businessman David Koch said in a private gathering in Manhattan this month that he wants Walker to be the next president, but he doesn't plan to back anyone in the primaries. Hide Caption 2 of 19 Photos: Potential 2016 presidential candidates Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal is establishing a committee to formally explore a White House bid. "If I run, my candidacy will be based on the idea that the American people are ready to try a dramatically different direction," he said in a news release provided to CNN on Monday, May 18 Hide Caption 3 of 19 Photos: Potential 2016 presidential candidates Sen. Bernie Sanders , an independent from Vermont who caucuses with Democrats, has said the United States needs a "political revolution" of working-class Americans looking to take back control of the government from billionaires. He first announced the run in an email to supporters early on the morning of Thursday, April 30. Hide Caption 4 of 19 Photos: Potential 2016 presidential candidates On March 2, retired neurosurgeon Ben Carson announced the launch of an exploratory committee. The move will allow him to raise money that could eventually be transferred to an official presidential campaign and indicates he is on track with stated plans to formally announce a bid in May. Hide Caption 5 of 19 Photos: Potential 2016 presidential candidates South Carolina Sen. Lindsey Graham has said he'll make a decision about a presidential run sometime soon. A potential bid could focus on Graham's foreign policy stance. Hide Caption 6 of 19 Photos: Potential 2016 presidential candidates Hillary Clinton launched her presidential bid Sunday, April 12, through a video message on social media. She continues to be considered the overwhelming front-runner among possible 2016 Democratic presidential candidates. Hide Caption 7 of 19 Photos: Potential 2016 presidential candidates Sen. Marco Rubio announced his bid for the 2016 presidency on Monday, April 13, a day after Hillary Clinton, with a rally in Florida. He's a Republican rising star from Florida who swept into office in 2010 on the back of tea party fervor. But his support of comprehensive immigration reform, which passed the Senate but has stalled in the House, has led some in his party to sour on his prospects. Hide Caption 8 of 19 Photos: Potential 2016 presidential candidates Lincoln Chafee, a Republican-turned-independent-turned-Democrat former governor and senator of Rhode Island, said he's running for president on Thursday, April 16, as a Democrat, but his spokeswoman said the campaign is still in the presidential exploratory committee stages. Hide Caption 9 of 19 Photos: Potential 2016 presidential candidates Jim Webb, the former Democratic senator from Virginia, is entertaining a 2016 presidential run. In January, he told NPR that his party has not focused on white, working-class voters in past elections. Hide Caption 10 of 19 Photos: Potential 2016 presidential candidates Vice President Joe Biden has twice before made unsuccessful bids for the Oval Office -- in 1988 and 2008. A former senator known for his foreign policy and national security expertise, Biden made the rounds on the morning shows recently and said he thinks he'd "make a good President." Hide Caption 11 of 19 Photos: Potential 2016 presidential candidates New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie has started a series of town halls in New Hampshire to test the presidential waters, becoming more comfortable talking about national issues and staking out positions on hot topic debates. Hide Caption 12 of 19 Photos: Potential 2016 presidential candidates Rep. Paul Ryan, a former 2012 vice presidential candidate and fiscally conservative budget hawk, says he's keeping his "options open" for a possible presidential run but is not focused on it. Hide Caption 13 of 19 Photos: Potential 2016 presidential candidates Sen. Rand Paul officially announced his presidential bid on Tuesday, April 7, at a rally in Louisville, Kentucky. The tea party favorite probably will have to address previous controversies that include comments on civil rights, a plagiarism allegation and his assertion that the top NSA official lied to Congress about surveillance. Hide Caption 14 of 19 Photos: Potential 2016 presidential candidates Texas Sen. Ted Cruz announced his 2016 presidential bid on Monday, March 23, in a speech at Liberty University. The first-term Republican and tea party darling is considered a gifted orator and smart politician. He is best known in the Senate for his marathon filibuster over defunding Obamacare. Hide Caption 15 of 19 Photos: Potential 2016 presidential candidates Democrat Martin O'Malley, the former Maryland governor, released a "buzzy" political video in November 2013 in tandem with visits to New Hampshire. He also headlined a Democratic Party event in South Carolina, which holds the first Southern primary. Hide Caption 16 of 19 Photos: Potential 2016 presidential candidates Republican Rick Perry, the former Texas governor, announced in 2013 that he would not be seeking re-election, leading to speculation that he might mount a second White House bid. Hide Caption 17 of 19 Photos: Potential 2016 presidential candidates Former Pennsylvania Sen. Rick Santorum, a social conservative, gave Mitt Romney his toughest challenge in the nomination fight last time out and has made trips recently to early voting states, including Iowa and South Carolina. Hide Caption 18 of 19 Photos: Potential 2016 presidential candidates Political observers expect New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo to yield to Hillary Clinton's run in 2016, fearing there wouldn't be room in the race for two Democrats from the Empire State. Hide Caption 19 of 19

He took the same steadfast approach last weekend in Iowa, when he and other contenders were asked about the ethanol mandate requiring that gasoline contain a certain amount of ethanol -- a popular regulation in Iowa where corn is king.

While nearly every other potential candidate expressed at least some measure of support for the mandate, Cruz flatly opposed it, saying in front of close to a thousand Iowa farmers that he doesn't think the government should be involved in the private sector.

Gov. Scott Walker, who's vying with Jeb Bush for frontrunner status, said he supported the mandate in Iowa, despite previously opposing it in his home state of Wisconsin

Asked by reporters Sunday about accusations that Walker is a flip-flopper, Cruz first praised his potential rival but made sure to mention that candidates need to be challenged on their actions.

"It's easy for candidates to give an answer," he said, but added: "The proof is in the pudding. What I've urged Republicans to ask of every candidate is: Have you walked the walk? Show me your record."

Cruz got heavy applause when he said he wanted to "repeal every word of Common Core," a set of testing standards that Jeb Bush staunchly defended when he appeared at a nearby event in Dover, New Hampshire just two days earlier.

Common Core, however, was not legislation approved by Congress. Rather, it was created by a bipartisan group of governors and state leaders, and states received financial incentives by the government to adopt the standards.

Officially running? 'Stay tuned'

Still, Cruz played somewhat coy with his White House aspirations, aware of the tight federal regulations that would start holding contenders to different standards once they admit they're running for president.

When voters pressed him Sunday to make a White House bid, Cruz told them to "stay tuned."

"I'm looking at it very, very seriously," he told the audience. "I would point out a week ago I was in Iowa, yesterday I was in South Carolina, and today I'm in New Hampshire."

But he truly charmed the crowd when he said that after he and his wife got their daughters a puppy recently, one of the girls gave her approval for Cruz's presidential aspirations.

"If you win, that means Snowflake will finally get a backyard to pee in," his daughter said, according to Cruz.

In terms of energy and turnout, Sunday's event stood out from other events held by potential White House contenders who were in New Hampshire this weekend, in part because it was open to the public, unlike other events headlined by Walker and Bush.

READ: Ted Cruz calls on next president to 'repudiate' Iran deal



Organizers were overwhelmed by the number of people who showed up to the Barrington office of Turbocam, a manufacturing company that's open about its Christian values, to hear Cruz speak. Twenty minutes before it was scheduled to start, organizers had to move the chairs, reporters and speakers to a bigger room to accommodate the 130 to 140 people who showed up. Organizers were overwhelmed by the number of people who showed up to the Barrington office of Turbocam, a manufacturing company that's open about its Christian values, to hear Cruz speak. Twenty minutes before it was scheduled to start, organizers had to move the chairs, reporters and speakers to a bigger room to accommodate the 130 to 140 people who showed up.

His remarks were met with boisterous applause, and he was frequently urged to run for president by people who shook his hand before and after the event.

'It's D-Day in America folks'

Halfway through Cruz's remarks, a small-business owner in the audience was called on to ask a question but instead stood up proudly next to the senator and went off into a two-minute rant about how other Republicans in Washington aren't representing their conservative constituents.

"It is D-Day in America folks," he said, getting the crowd on their feet. "We can't wait for another Republican. We need Ted Cruz."

The man said his wife wrote a blank check for Cruz and pulled out his wallet, only to throw it on the ground at Cruz's feet.

"For those who believe in miracles, this gentleman just threw his wallet at a politician," Cruz said, getting a big laugh from the crowd. "And he actually got it back."

Cruz could not accept the money because he's not yet a candidate.

One man, Bill Higgins, stood outside in the snow for four hours hoping Cruz would meet his goat named Izak , an apparent fixture on the campaign trail which was wearing a hat that said "I voted" and who happened to bite Jon Huntsman in 2011.

Cruz waved hello at Higgins as the senator exited the building Sunday afternoon but didn't stop to greet the goat.

"He'll be back again," Higgins said, trying to appear unfazed. "I'm sure he wants to get to his next stop."