Ted Cruz, Mike Turner in 1,200 days?

Is it that time, already?

Seems like only a few months ago that President Obama won re-election.

Nevertheless, as reported by Valerie Richardson in The Washington Times, U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, on Sunday won one of the first straw polls for the 2016 Republican presidential nomination.

That's the good news.

The bad news is that – fast-forward three years, please – Senator Cruz was not born in the United States. And who wants in 2016 a presidential birther issue redux?

Then again, all those arguments in support of the current president's supposed birthplace are well recorded and at the ready should a Canadian (Cruz) seek the GOP presidential nomination in three years. And just for the record, the 2008 Republican nominee, Sen. John McCain, wasn't born in the U.S., either. But that's old history.

The Washington Post reported on the matter as follows: "The Constitution states the president must be a natural-born citizen. Cruz’s mother was a U.S. citizen when he was born (his father was born in Cuba) and current law extends citizenship to anyone born to a U.S. citizen, regardless of where the birth takes place. The question is whether U.S. citizenship is the same thing as being a natural-born citizen."

While I do realize that the next U.S. presidential election is still almost 1,200 days away, let the countdown begin. Please.

It's well past time that these United States elect another president. The sooner, the better.

The current occupant of the Oval Office has proved to be a most dismal failure.

And, no, to those left-leaning apologists, I wasn't all that enamored with his predecessor. Nor was I the least bit hopeful that a McCain/Palin ticket or a Romney/Ryan ticket would be much of an improvement. In fact, I correctly predicted – and gainfully wagered – that each of the past two GOP tickets would fail.

As much as the national media have been similarly left-leaning apologists for the present administration, I was surprised to read a July 28 Associated Press report that says: "four out of five U.S. adults struggle with joblessness, near poverty or reliance on welfare for at least parts of their lives, a sign of deteriorating economic security and an elusive American dream."

The AP said: "Hardship is particularly on the rise among whites, based on several measures. Pessimism among that racial group about their families' economic futures has climbed to the highest point since at least 1987. In the most recent AP poll, 63 percent of whites called the economy 'poor.' Survey data exclusive to The Associated Press points to an increasingly globalized U.S. economy, the widening gap between rich and poor and loss of good-paying manufacturing jobs as reasons for the trend."

If the current economic trends continue, reasonable minds may surmise that this will be a hindrance to the next Democratic presidential candidate. Of course, the early money for that nomination is one Hillary Rodham Clinton of Arkansas' Whitewater-gate fame and former New York senatorial carpetbagger.

Having successfully predicted the outcomes of every presidential election since 1972, I would be pleased to see a Ted Cruz vs. Hillary Clinton showdown in 2016.

Why?

Glad you asked.

Earlier this year, perhaps it was in March, I watched a Senate Judiciary Hearing during which Sen. Cruz and that old battle-ax from California, Sen. Dianne Feinstein, got into a bit of a tiff over the Feinstein "assault" weapons ban proposal.

Senator Cruz, in rare form – for what passes today as that impudent body otherwise known as the United States Senate – asked the old battle-ax: “The question that I would pose to the senior senator from California is, would she deem it consistent with the Bill of Rights for Congress to engage in the same endeavor that we are contemplating doing with the Second Amendment in the context of the First or Fourth Amendment, namely, would she consider it constitutional for Congress to specify that the First Amendment shall apply only to the following books and shall not apply to the books that Congress has deemed outside the protection of the Bill of Rights?

“Likewise, would she think that the Fourth Amendment’s protection against searches and seizures could properly apply only to the following specified individuals and not to the individuals that Congress has deemed outside the protection of the Bill of Rights?”

Here's the old battle-ax's reply: “I’m not a sixth-grader,” Feinstein said. "I’ve been on this committee for 20 years. I was a mayor for nine years. I walked in, I saw people shot. I’ve looked at bodies that have been shot with these weapons. I’ve seen the bullets that implode. In Sandy Hook, youngsters were dismembered. Look, there are other weapons.”

“I’ve been up — I’m not a lawyer, but after 20 years I’ve been up close and personal to the Constitution. I have great respect for it. This doesn’t mean that weapons of war and the Heller decision clearly points out three exceptions, two of which are pertinent here. And so I — you know, it’s fine you want to lecture me on the Constitution. I appreciate it. Just know I’ve been here for a long time."

She sure has. Too long, some might say.

She never really got around to an honest answer to Sen. Cruz's question. She did, however, apologize to Cruz for her ridiculous outburst.

Watching that discourse, I couldn't help but think that a Ted Cruz nomination would be another old battle-ax's worst nightmare. If there's one potential Republican nominee who scares HRC more than new investigations into her cattle futures profits or Vince Foster's death, it's most likely Ted Cruz.

Of course, every potential presidential nominee needs a potential vice-presidential nominee.

And that's where the Buckeye State could enter prominently into the picture.

In each of the past two election cycles, Ohio's Republican U.S. senator, Rob Portman, had been mentioned as a possible running mate. We know that didn't materialize for either John McCain or Mitt Romney.

We also know that both McCain and Romney lost Ohio – and with it, their respective presidential campaigns.

With three years to rethink this, I'm thinking a great ticket for the Grand Old Party in 2016 might just include Congressman Mike Turner.

Congressman Turner, who represented Highland County for roughly a decade in the old Third District, now represents the 10th Congressional District, which includes all of Montgomery County, Greene County, and portions of Fayette County.

He is a former two-term mayor of Dayton, which plays well with moderate voters.

As a member of the House Armed Services Committee, Rep. Turner was named the ranking member on the Strategic Forces Subcommittee. The Strategic Forces Subcommittee has jurisdiction over the nation’s nuclear arsenal, military assets in outer space, the Department of Defense’s intelligence programs, and also over missile defense systems. Re-elected to a fifth term in November 2010, Rep. Turner served as chairman of the House Armed Services Strategic Forces Subcommittee, and as a member of the Tactical Air and Land Forces Subcommittee for the 112th Congress.

He was appointed chairman of the U.S. delegation to the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) Parliamentary Assembly.

In addition to his work on the House Armed Services Committee, Rep. Turner is a senior member of the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform.

Simply put, the Ohio congressman has put together a rather impressive resumé of public service coupled with government oversight. He also happens to be from Ohio. The last two GOP presidential candidates bypassed a possible Ohio running mate. Both lost Ohio. Both lost the race.

Granted, no one knows at this time if either Sen. Cruz or Rep. Turner has any interest in the presidency or vice presidency.

Deflecting the issue, Sen. Cruz said this past weekend: “At this point, 100 percent of my focus is on the U.S. Senate. And the reason is simple: The Senate’s the battlefield. The Senate is where these fights are being fought. So I’m devoting my time, No. 1, to trying to stand up for free-market principles and the Constitution.”

We'll see.

Meanwhile, reasonable minds can dream for another 1,200 days.

Rory Ryan is publisher of The Highland County Press.