As Hillary Clinton continues to try to learn to work with multiple email accounts, and as President Obama continues to threaten to veto Bipartisan legislation such as the Kirk-Menendez Bill, the primary election season is now officially underway. Currently, most polls suggest that the next election may well be a battle between the political dynasties of Clinton and Bush. In essence, it seems as if the March Madness fever is encouraging students and community members to start “Ready for Hillary” organizations while polishing up their email-deleting skills.

However, on March 23^rd, Texas Senator Ted Cruz officially announced his candidacy for President of the United States- becoming the first major candidate to do so. Cruz, however, is very unique as a Republican Candidate- for a large number of reasons ranging from his personal life and politics.

First off, his name is Ted Cruz. His dad is a Cuban Revolutionary who fought FOR Fidel Castro’s Cuban revolution. He knows communism not from the words of college professors, but from his family’s life under Castro’s regime.

Second, he is a new level of hated. We know Republicans are hated by the mainstream media and their Democrat counterparts, but Ted Cruz makes Kanye West seem like Oprah Winfrey. According to the New York Times “In April 2013, he was identified as “TheMost Hated Man in the Senate” by Foreign Policy magazine, which described him as “the human equivalent of one of those flower-squirters that clowns wear on their lapels.” If you did a web search for “Senators Hate Ted Cruz”, that Foreign Policy article wouldn’t have even come up on the first Google page. It was supplanted by titles like “Why Senate Republicans Hate Ted Cruz,” “GOP Still Despises Ted Cruz,” “Everybody Hates Ted Cruz” and the generously titled “How Unpopular Is Ted Cruz Right Now?”

Third, he is insanely principled, and has one of the most consistent records of principle of any senators in recent memory. Going back to his days in Harvard, he wrote his thesis on the divine nature of liberty- titled “Clipping the Wings of Angels”. He wrote “If angels were to govern men, neither external nor internal controls on government would be necessary.”

He is also in a unique position when it comes to the stances on his issues. He is a very socially conservative and religious man, yet he has consistently voted along with libertarian principles in an unwavering manner. He might be hated by traditional conservatives, and he will likely not gather the support of the Pro-liberty crowd that will “stand with rand”. However, he is relying on a group of supporters that is angry with government corruption and malfunction yet supports socially conservative and traditional family values. He is in essence relying largely on his ability to debate, confront and out-think his opponents. His former professor at Harvard Law School, Alan Dershowitz, has said that “Cruz was off the Charts Brilliant”. This statement will truly come to the test as the hated yet remarkable Canadian born son of a communist revolutionary, attempts to become the leader of the free world.