At the same time, he urged his party to double-down on controversial issues like school vouchers and Social Security reform but rethink how to frame those causes to voters.

While Cruz’s 30-minute speech was a serious diagnosis of the GOP failures and a prescription for a political resurrection, he also clearly understood the need to throw the base the obligatory red meat.

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He dubbed the so-called war on women “an utterly ridiculous notion” originally concocted by ABC anchor George Stephanopoulos during a GOP presidential primary debate.

“And by the way, why on earth do we have people like George Stephanopoulos moderating Republican debates,” he said to yelps.

Responding to the charge that Republicans wanted to take away women’s contraception, he quipped, “Look, my wife and I have two little girls. I’m thrilled we don’t have seventeen.”

And he defined gun control in Texas as “hitting what you aim at.”

Nonetheless, speaking without notes and using a lapel microphone in order to roam the stage, free from the podium, Cruz displayed why he is primed to be a force in the Republican Party in the years to come.

“I’m something that’s not supposed to exist. A Hispanic Republican,” he said.

While some critics contend that Cruz is not eligible to run for president since he was born in Canada, he has asserted that doesn’t preclude him from the office.

“The Constitution requires that one be a natural-born citizen, and my mother was a U.S. citizen when I was born,” he told The New Yorker’s Ryan Lizza.

After offering a trove of critiques and advice, Cruz closed by offering a glimmer of encouragement for his audience.

“It’s easy to be demoralized, to look at these elections and throw up your hands in despair. Things can change very quickly,” he said. “It took Jimmy Carter to give us Ronald Reagan, and I am convinced the most long-lasting legacy of Barack Obama is going to be a new generation of leaders in the Republican Party standing up and defending liberty and getting back to our values.”