At campaign stops in Henniker and Hooksett on Wednesday, Texas Senator Ted Cruz riffed heavily on his ideas for reforming Washington, directing plenty of anger at the so-called political establishment.
And in this way, the Republican presidential candidate said he’s found some common ground with Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders, one of his Democratic rivals.
“You know, it’s interesting, actually, in diagnosing the problem,” Cruz told a standing-room-only crowd during a town hall at New England College. “I agree, in many ways, with Bernie Sanders.
Cruz said he, like Sanders, is angry at the corruption and big-money interests present within both political parties.
“It’s kind of funny. I enjoy watching media folks, they’re very puzzled, they say, ‘Gosh, Ted, you sound exactly like Bernie, saying it is all big money and lobbyists and corruption.’ Well, that’s right. It is,” Cruz said, pausing for applause. “I’ve said many, many times: The biggest divide we’ve got, politically, it’s not between Democrats and Republicans, it’s between career politicians in Washington in both parties and the American people.”
The two politicians, Cruz explained, just have very different ideas on how to fix that.
“We both agree Washington’s corrupt. His solution is so we need even more Washington, we need the government to take over even more in our lives,” Cruz said. “I think that solution is nuts. I think the solution is to take power out of Washington and bring it back to the American people.”
Cruz won the Iowa caucuses Monday night and is trying to build on this momentum leading up to the New Hampshire primary.
He has campaign stops planned Thursday in Portsmouth, Hooksett, Weare and Laconia.