Ted Cruz remains loyal to GW Bush despite tough criticism

GOP Presidential candidate Ted Cruz, (Texas), is remaining loyal to former President George W. Bush despite highly critical comments that Bush has made about him, according to ABC News on Tuesday. Cruz, who once worked in Bush's 2000 Presidential campaign, says that he is grateful to Bush because he met his wife, Heidi while working for him. Cruz also said that Bush was a man of his convictions "even in the face of daunting odds."

Cruz was one of the attorneys who worked on the voting recount in Florida in 2000, the year of the controversy swirling around "hanging chads." The United States Supreme Court's refusal to hear a case challenging a Florida court's ruling that did not recognize thousands of ballots with "hanging chads" is what gave the 2000 election victory to George W. Bush. This was despite the fact that Vice-President Al Gore won the popular vote in both Florida and the United States.

Despite Cruz's obvious role in the promotion of Bush's legal case that eventually lead to his 2000 election victory, George W. Bush has issued some critical statements about Cruz. Bush told donors: "I just don't like the guy."

Furthermore, the former President has described Cruz as "opportunistic." This is in sharp contrast to the nickname that Bush had for Cruz when he was working for him in his campaign: "Theodore." Reportedly Bush gave him that name because like Theodore Roosevelt, Cruz, was "serious" all the time.

Despite unfavorable comments from George W. Bush, Cruz has remained philosophical, attributing most of it to the fact that Bush supports his brother Jeb's candidacy for President:

Paul Ryan will run for Speaker for his kids

GOP Majority Leader Paul Ryan has promised to run for Speaker of the House so that his kids will be proud of him, provided he receives widespread support from within the GOP, according to ABC News on Tuesday. Feeling a little apprehensive about running in the wake of the forced resignation of John Boehner as Speaker and the withdraw from the race by Kevin McCarthy, Ryan wants to be sure that he is not the third victim of conservative, Tea Party Republicans who feel that he is not conservative enough.

Ryan expressed the importance of living up to his children's expectations, too. He stated that he did not want to have to face his kids someday and tell them that he was not there for the Republican Party when he was needed. Ryan stated that he also would be willing to run for Speaker for his kids as well as for his GOP colleagues in the House.

Even Ryan's GOP colleagues who were contemplating running for Speaker themselves expressed their support for Ryan. GOP Reps. Jason Chaffetz, Utah and Ryan Zinke, Mo. were among the perspective candidates for Speaker who expressed support for Ryan.

Trump and Carson request Secret Service protection

GOP Presidential candidates Donald Trump and Ben Carson both have requested Secret Service protection, according to ABC News on Monday. The Office of Homeland Security Reports that the requests from the two candidates are part of the "statutorily required process." ABC News reported that this is the time of year that most high-profile Presidential candidates request Secret Service protection.

The request for protection only will suffice as the very initial stage in the process for both candidates. Each candidate's request still must be approved by the Secretary of Homeland Security in concert with a congressional advisory committee. The members of the advisory committee include the Speaker of the House, the House Minority Leader, the Senate Majority Leader, the Senate Minority Leader and one additional member that is selected by the committee. Only after all of these approvals been granted will the candidates be provided Secret Service protection.

Ben Carson denied that his campaign requested Secret Service protection and claimed that both the Secret Service and FBI came to him. Carson did state, however, that the need for protection was legitimate because of "lots of threats."