There are two full days left of the Faith & Freedom Coalition's annual Washington conference.

But Ted Cruz already won it on Thursday.

The Texas senator measurably outperformed his two Senate GOP colleagues, Marco Rubio and Rand Paul, with a tightly woven sermon on religious liberty delivered with vigor and conviction. He was rewarded with the most frequent and loudest applause and the highest praise from the gathering of social conservatives at the Omni Shoreham Hotel.



It wasn't just the dramatic delivery that separated him on the dais, though – it was his smartly tailored speech that began with a silent prayer for the victims of the mass church shooting in Charleston, South Carolina, and ended with a spontaneous leap off the stage into the center of the ballroom audience, where he was swarmed like a rock star.

There are still more than a half-dozen 2016 contenders who will speak on Friday and Saturday. But none is likely to match Cruz's dynamism.



"I like everybody who spoke, but Ted Cruz was phenomenal," says Julie Parmer of Gap, Pennsylvania. Seated in the front row, she was among the many to leap to her feet when Cruz closed his remarks. "He's a Christian. He believes that the word is the most important thing when it comes to decisions."

Jill Noble, an area director with Concerned Women for America's Missouri branch, also picked Cruz as her favorite.

"He's reaching into the heart and soul of the people of this nation when he touches their most private institution: their faith," she says. "He's got the charisma. I believe he will fight. He will fight and take it to the mat."

Whereas Rubio and Paul spoke on a broader range of issues tied to their candidacies, Cruz tailored his message, without notes or a script, to this specific audience – a national gathering of churchgoing, Bible-thumping Christians who believe their religiosity is under siege by culture and government.

"There are many, many issues we can talk about. We can talk about jobs and the economy. We can talk about taxes and regulatory reform. But I want to talk about an issue that I think will be front and center in 2016, and that is religious liberty," Cruz said.

"Here, here," came a response from the audience.

"I believe 2016 will be the religious liberty election," Cruz promised.

Then, he dutifully devoted his time to why he's best equipped to defend said liberty.

He used experience, reciting how he had fought for the cause long before he even became a senator or began pursuing the White House.

As solicitor general of Texas, he successfully defended the placement of the Ten Commandments on the grounds of the state Capitol, as well as the inclusion of the words "under God" in the Pledge of Allegiance.



He used humor.

"Just this week, I think the EPA has named religious liberty an endangered species," he joked.

He used conviction, pointing to the blowback from Indiana's Religious Freedom Restoration Act and accusing some of his Republican rivals of cowardice.

"Even more than a few Republicans running for president in 2016 chose that moment somehow to go rearrange their sock drawer," he said. "I'll tell you this: I will never, ever, ever shy from standing up and defending the religious liberty of every American."

He defined the issue globally, chastising President Barack Obama's administration for failing to define the killing of Christians in places like Libya and Kenya as "Islamic terrorism."

"We must speak the truth," Cruz said to more applause.

He also spoke with a flowing familiarity on the cause and the players, signaling to those watching that this wasn't just a routine.

Ralph Reed, founder and chairman of the Faith and Freedom Coalition, was just "Ralph."

Penny Young Nance, president of Concerned Women for America, was simply "Penny."

And then he blared a warning: There are 90 million evangelicals in America, and yet 50 million stay home on Election Day.

"If people of faith show up … we will win and turn the country around," he intoned, building toward a big close that involved a joke about the excitement surrounding Obama's departure in 2017.

Walking into the hotel lobby afterward, Marilyn and Rod Swanson of Rock Springs, Georgia, said Cruz moved them the most.



"I love Rubio, but Ted Cruz is such a good speaker," Marilyn Swanson said, seemingly torn. "I wish we could choose him for pastor of our church. We agree with everything he says."

But Cruz was also appealing, she said, because he didn't mail it in with the same old stump speech.

"Rubio does a good speech too," she said. "I've heard it over and over and it's wonderful, but it isn't new. Ted always has a new talk. He's flamboyant and doesn't use notes."

Rod Swanson dubbed Cruz "fantastic."

"There were speakers before him with as much talent, but not the heart," he said.

Yet in a glaring example of just why this 2016 Republican primary remains so unsettled, Swanson said he wasn't yet ready to pledge to vote for Cruz. He'd prefer someone with executive experience, but said lacking that type of resume isn't necessarily a disqualifier, either.

Rod Swanson previously saw Cruz at the Georgia Republican Party convention and was impressed. The senator's performance Thursday moved the needle more, but he said he'll still need to see Cruz again.

"I want him to prove to me that he can be as strong as LBJ was getting legislation passed," Rod Swanson explained. "A senator can do it, but I'm not there yet."