For the past several election cycles, conservatives have lamented their lack of inspiring options. This time is different, though. Now there may be too many good options to choose from.

That’s all the more reason for me to follow through on what I’ve been telling my audience ever since Mitt Romney lost the 2012 election.

Stop me if you’ve heard this one before. The GOP establishment settles on its corporatist shill early while conservatives peel off in numerous directions, mainly because there’s not a viable full-spectrum conservative running. And so we splinter among the candidates whose priorities match our own.

This of course splits our vote, allowing the aforementioned, hand-picked corporatist shill to capture the Republican Party nomination. Cue the Pyrrhic victory. Said shill then fails to stand for anything other than “I’m a Republican” and loses the general election to a Marxist Democrat.

Wash. Rinse. Repeat.

Except this time, the country cannot afford for us to blow it again. American Exceptionalism is at its tipping point moment. The 2016 election will likely determine whether we will ever return to the God-given liberty that made this the greatest nation on Earth. For our current path involves abandoning our constitutional republic altogether and becoming the next bankrupt (morally and fiscally) secular/socialist state.

And no, I’m not just talking about beating the Democrats next year. Recent history has proven the first foe that must be defeated is the feckless Republican Party establishment – often the best allies the Marxists have. The Republican Party establishment that consistently goes out of its way to circumvent and thwart our efforts to truly confront statism. It runs harder against us in primaries than it does against the Democrats and say nastier things about us in the media.

It often seems like the only political party that hates conservatives more than the Democrats are the Republicans.

This is why more conservatives are talking about bolting the GOP and/or starting a third party than ever before. Except before we think about a third party, how about we actually try a second one first?

Enter Texas Sen. Ted Cruz.

Mr. Cruz is a man of courage and conviction, to be sure, but he isn’t our lone champion in such a vaunted field. Gov. Scott Walker should be applauded for his willingness to stand up to the mobocracy in Wisconsin. Mike Huckabee defended religious freedom and a free economy when he took up for Chick-fil-a at a time the fast-food giant was under siege by the Rainbow Jihad. Gov. Bobby Jindal beat the Obama Regime to bring school choice to Louisiana.

I’d be proud to support these men should they become the eventual nominee, as well as several others I don’t have the space to mention. They have shown they want to do something for the country other than line the pockets of their K Street sugar daddies or follow Karl Rove’s nihilism.

However, there are three things that set Mr. Cruz apart from the rest which deem him worthy of an early endorsement.

First, Mr. Cruz is the one candidate in this primary who has never looked the other way when the GOP establishment sold out conservatives or betrayed the trust of the American people. For example, Mr. Cruz remains the only candidate in this race who spoke out against the GOP establishment’s race-baiting that led to a stolen U.S. Senate nomination in Mississippi last year. It’s one thing to stand up to the Left and the media propaganda machine, but it’s another to stand up to the leadership of your own party for the treachery and Failure Theater.

Mr. Cruz has never wavered in doing the latter, even when it took confronting Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell for his lies from the Senate floor. In this respect, Mr. Cruz represents a much-needed paradigm shift. He puts right vs. wrong ahead of right vs. left. He puts “we the people” ahead of his party.

Second for Mr. Cruz is electability. Starting with the primary, conservatives can only coalesce to defeat the GOP establishment if there is a viable, full-spectrum conservative in the race. And not only can no one question Mr. Cruz’s conservative credentials, but he has raised the most hard money of any GOP presidential candidate (and an astonishing $50 million overall). He’s already drawing massive crowds and building organization in southern Super Tuesday states that surpass what most of his campaign rivals have on the ground in the first in the nation caucus state of Iowa.

The sum of those parts is proof Mr. Cruz is the only conservative candidate ready to run a national campaign against the establishment – something conservatives haven’t been able to do since Ronald Reagan. But there’s more. In terms of electability, every GOP presidential victory of the past four decades had three things in common:

1) The nominee inspired the party’s large evangelical base in the primary.

2) The nominee won the Catholic vote in the general with a strong, pro-life message.

3) The nominee won the middle class vote in the general on kitchen table and national security issues.

Every time the GOP nominee does this he wins, and every time he doesn’t he loses – no matter who the Democrats nominate. When you consider the inspiring story of Mr. Cruz’s family escaping tyranny in Cuba and coming here dirt poor to live the American dream, he has a compelling story to sell everyday Americans. That’s way more than conjecture at this point, too. The average donation to the Cruz campaign has been less than $100.

Plus, Mr. Cruz is an evangelical himself, and I’ve seen firsthand on numerous occasions how he energizes our people. And he will not be afraid to feature the unwavering pro-life message we need to woo Catholic voters away from the Democrats.

Third and finally, it’s not just enough to have courage of conviction and the resources to win. You must be able to lead the country once elected, and this debate isn’t as simple as choosing between a governor or senator to helm the office of president. We’ve had governors who were great presidents (Reagan) and governors who were not (Carter). And one of the greatest presidents we ever had, Lincoln, was a one-term legislator before moving into the White House.

Besides, most governors are managers and not ideologically driven, especially most Republican governors. We need a leader who represents radical change for the better, not someone who just manages the decay better.

Barack Obama is not a failure because he’s a former senator and thus an amateur at governing, as some conservatives attest. Quite the contrary, Mr. Obama has been a very successful president once you understand his Marxist mission. He has ruthlessly imposed his Marxist worldview and driven the country hard left as a result.

I believe there are eight skills required of the next president if he’s going to undo the damage Obamaism has done to the country:

1. The ability to command the bully pulpit and inspire the American people with a message.

2. The ability to think and communicate quick on his feet to a public with a short attention span.

3. Focusing on his mission/message and without always taking the Left’s bait and allowing them (and the media) to set the agenda.

4. Knowing his audience is the American people and not the media or the ruling class.

5. A willingness to do hard things.

6. Understanding that personnel is policy.

7. Must be able to persuade the country to turn back toward American Exceptionalism.

8. Possess the “eye of the tiger” (or fire in the belly) necessary to truly be motivated to take on the corruption in Washington.

As I applied these eight skills to the field of candidates, only one name came up as possessing each and every one of them.

That name is Ted Cruz.

And that is why I am proud to endorse him for president of the United States, and will be doing everything in my power to encourage courageous conservatives across the country to do the same.

Steve Deace is a nationally syndicated talk show host and also the author of the new book “Rules for Patriots: How Conservatives Can Win Again.” You can “like” him on Facebook or follow him on Twitter @SteveDeaceShow.

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