Ted Cruz energizes conservative base in Tenn.

Jill Cowan | The (Nashville) Tennessean

NASHVILLE — Sen. Ted Cruz, one of 17 Republican presidential hopefuls, revved up members of his Middle Tennessee base with a preacher’s energy Monday afternoon during a talk that drew about 1,600 sign-toting, button-wearing supporters to The Factory at Franklin.

“All across the nation, people are looking up and saying, 'This doesn’t make any sense, we can’t keep doing this,'” the Texas senator said when he took the stage in The Factory's Jamison Hall. “Let me tell you, help is on the way.”

It was one of four stops that Cruz was set to make throughout the state. He started in Chattanooga, then stopped in Murfreesboro before heading to Franklin and on to Jackson for an evening event. Cruz, a tea party favorite, is just the latest GOP presidential candidate to hit Tennessee in recent weeks; former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush spoke at a Baptist event in Nashville on Tuesday, and Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker spoke with supporters over barbecue late last month. He is scheduled to speak at The Factory on Aug. 23.

In his roughly half-hour speech Monday, Cruz laid out a fiercely conservative vision for his first days in office — one that seemed to resonate with his audience of mostly Williamson County residents.

He vowed to rescind President Obama’s executive orders, direct the Department of Justice to investigate Planned Parenthood and “rip to shreds the catastrophic Iranian nuclear deal,” which congressional Republicans have pledged to reject.

Cruz said he’d work to implement a flat tax, so that Americans can do their taxes “on a postcard.”

Cruz praised the Republican field of presidential candidates — he never mentioned Donald Trump — and leveled jabs at the Democratic candidates, referring to Hillary Clinton as a “wide-eyed socialist” with damaging ideas.

He rejected the Washington machine and claimed what he described as a base of “grass-roots” support.

“Look around at the patriots who are gathered here, look around at the young people, look at all the people under 30 here,” he said. “That is the future of Tennessee and our country.”

Cruz said Tennessee, which is slated to have its March primary as part of the new “SEC Primary,” along with other Southern states, will play a key role in the Republican nomination.

“Tennessee and Texas, we agree on just about everything — well, except football,” Cruz said, drawing chuckles. “And Tennessee’s role in this is making sure we nominate a real, a genuine, a strong conservative in 2016. That is the only way we win the general election is to stand for principles.”

Williamson County Republican Party Chairman Julie Hannah Taleghani said that while not much of what Cruz said was unexpected, the crowd’s enthusiasm — despite standing, in some cases, for hours in a crowded room — was a pleasant surprise.

Cruz took the stage a little more than an hour after he was scheduled to arrive.

But the crowd cheered and chanted Cruz’s name at various points throughout his talk.

“They were hungry for this,” Taleghani said. “They waited and waited and waited — no matter how crowded it got — they wanted to wait it out.”

U.S. Rep. Marsha Blackburn said she was excited to welcome Cruz, whom she introduced as a “consistent conservative” to Williamson County, which she emphasized has had an important place in steering the state’s politics.

Williamson County residents were joined by others from around the region, though, including Ana Batts, a Cheatham County mother of five children with another on the way.

Batts said she didn’t know much about Cruz before she headed out to the event. She heard about Cruz’s stop through a Facebook group for home-schooled families.

She said she was encouraged by the Texas senator’s ideas on education, which involve squashing Common Core and abolishing the U.S. Department of Education.

And Cruz, she said, seemed to be more focused than other candidates on “keeping the freedom to home-school.”

“I was impressed,” she said.

Still, she said, “I’m not completely sold — I want to hear more about the practical side.”

Before he headed on to Jackson, Cruz was set to meet privately with a group of home-schoolers, pastors and legislators, a campaign staff member said.

As he made his way through a crush of supporters, 11 1/2-year-old Tayler Smith of Dickson County stood on a chair and yelled above the din.

“Mr. Cruz!” she said. “Please make sure you protect home-schooling!’

“Absolutely,” Cruz responded, holding out his hand for a fist bump.