Ted Cruz for President 2016? Rumors Fly About Conservative Texas Senator Run for White House

Republican Senator from Texas and Tea Party darling Ted Cruz is considering a run for president in 2016, according to party insiders interviewed by the conservative National Review.

"Cruz won't talk about it publicly, and even privately he's cagey about revealing too much of his thought process or intentions. But his interest is undeniable," writes NR's Washington editor Robert Costa, often a confidante of Republicans in the know.

There's plenty of speculation over who will run on either party's ticket in the next presidential election, but Cruz is a relative newcomer to the shortlist.

"His supporters argue that he'd be a Barry Goldwater type -- a nominee who would rattle the Republican establishment and reconnect the party with its base - but with better electoral results," writes Costa.

That seems like wishful thinking on their part, as it's not clear how a hardcore conservative like Cruz, who opposes immigration reform, Obamacare, abortion, same-sex marriage, gun control and environmental regulations would garner enough votes in the Electoral College to deliver the presidency to the Republicans.

In fact, judging from the 2012 contest, it's unlikely Cruz can even make it past the Republican primaries. Conservatives like Michele Bachmann and Rick Santorum fell to Romney the moderate, and the Republicans are moving to the center in the wake of their resounding loss.

Still, the Tea Party and the far-right of the Republican Party aren't known for their pragmatism. Cruz's opposition to immigration reform alone will kill his candidacy in a general election.

It's possible he can muster enough support from the dedicated base, but that demographic is shrinking, and will be even smaller three years from now.

However, Cruz likely doesn't have to worry about an issue his supporters have constantly brought up during President Obama's tenure: his birthplace. Cruz was born in Canada, though his mother was a U.S. citizen at the time, so the vast majority of legal scholars say that qualifies him as a "natural-born citizen" as the Constitution requires of a president.

Let's hope the birthers go easy on Cruz.