WASHINGTON (MarketWatch) — Democrats hope for Ted Cruz, but fear Jeb Bush.

The Hill surveyed Democratic lawmakers, former members and strategists, and found they are rooting for Cruz to win the Republican presidential nomination. Jeb Bush, meanwhile, is the 2016 candidate Democrats fear the most. Why Cruz? Democrats think the Texas senator, a conservative firebrand, would alienate independent voters, propel liberals to the polls and give their party the best shot at picking up congressional seats in next year’s election. Bush, meanwhile, would be a tougher opponent since he is a former governor from a political dynasty who can raise hundreds of millions of dollars and appeal more strongly to women and independent voters.

I’m listening:Hillary Clinton is bringing what the New York Times calls a wonkish intensity to her campaign events as she gets re-involved in domestic politics after her stint as secretary of state. Clinton, the frontrunner for the Democrats’ presidential nomination, is clearly most comfortable devising and thinking about policy, and that has given her a way to interact with voters. The Times writes there isn’t a lot of I-feel-your-pain hugging at campaign events, but the former first lady arrives at roundtables armed with specific data points.

Excited about Sanders: Meet the people who believe Bernie Sanders can save America. Bloomberg writes about backers of the Vermont senator challenging Hillary Clinton for the Democratic presidential nomination, like songwriter Julia Davis. Davis penned a tune that goes, in part: “You know that I loved Hillary for quite some time/well that time is done…She’s just another vessel of lies, backed by Goldman Sachs and Merrill Lynch and the rest of Wall Street — oh no.” When Sanders’ announcement date was official, artist David Klein assembled a diorama starring Sanders and his dog, Beanie. “It could become an icon,” Klein half-joked.

McCain gets a challenger: Sen. John McCain has a challenger next year: Democrat Ann Kirkpatrick said she’d take on the longtime Republican from Arizona. McCain is the heavy frontrunner in his quest for a sixth term, as Roll Call writes. Kirkpatrick won re-election to the U.S. House last fall, defying a Republican wave that felled fellow moderate House Democrats.

Appeals court keeps block of immigration plan: A U.S. appeals court on Tuesday declined to let the Obama administration proceed with its plan to defer deportations for millions of undocumented immigrants. The Wall Street Journal writes about the decision of the Fifth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in New Orleans, which rejected the administration’s request to allow the federal government to begin implementing the plan while 26 states and the administration continue a court battle. The plan would allow more than four million people in the U.S. illegally to apply for deferred deportation and work authorizations.