Baptist of fire

摘要

In offices around the country bets have been placed on March Madness, the college basketball tournament that pits a bewildering number of teams against each other in a knockout formula designed to throw up surprises. Not to be outdone, the Republican Party's presidential primary for 2016 is also now under way, after Ted Cruz, a senator from Texas, declared his candidacy on Twitter and launched it a few hours later before 10,000 students at Liberty University, a Christian college in Virginia, on March 23rd. Most of what is said now about an election that will not take place until November 2016 can safely be disregarded. But Senator Cruz's candidacy is worth taking seriously because he represents a distinctive style in American politics, which may prove more popular than his detractors realise. Among the detractors, opinions range from those who think Mr Cruz is the new Joe McCarthy to those who reckon he is a (mostly) harmless kook. His fans see something else: a ferociously intelligent Hispanic conservative who can best almost anyone in debate and a devout Southern Baptist who makes them feel good.