CNN: Ted Cruz as a ‘Loud Senator’ Is His ‘Path to Presidency’

KING: "And we'll see how some people decide to use the post-election environment to help their own profile. And you mention, Ted Cruz, he's been very, very active. He wants Mitch McConnell -- he wants to ask those questions. He's on the judiciary committee. He wants to ask the nominee for Attorney General Loretta Lynch, 'How much power does the president have? Do you think this is constitutional?' Again, not so much about her, but about the president. He tweeted out yesterday when the president said we should have net neutrality - net neutrality is Obamacare for the internet, pretty clever catch of the phrase there, whether you agree or disagree. The internet should not operate at the speed of government. Aside from the specifics, Ted Cruz has clearly decided this is his path to prominence among conservatives, to plant the flag and to be not only so much in the president's face, but maybe in his own leader, Mitch McConnell's face, right?"
BALL: "Well, this is not new for Ted Cruz, right. That's always been his sort of role. He is signaling that that's not going to change. You know, Ted Cruz is positioning himself for a possible run for president. If he does that, that is his angle for the presidency - is to say to conservatives, 'I'm the loudest, most aggressive fighter for the conservative cause. I don't compromise. I don't back down. I'm putting these issues on the agenda and making sure that the leadership can't just sort of -- put them under a blanket and they go away and you don't know what happened to them. So that's still going to be his role."
KING: "And does he believe that being a loud senator is the best path to the presidency? I don't say that with disrespect. You can become a creature of Washington."
O'KEEFE: "It's at least  the best way to raise a lot of money and keep your name out there, absolutely. I think what we're starting to see is, you know, the problems that John Boehner has had in recent years with the block of really hard-core conservative House Republicans is embodied in one person in the Senate. The question is how many others will join him. Mike Lee cosigned that statement regarding Loretta Lynch and her position on executive action. You've got a bunch of new more conservative senators coming. What will the size of the sort of ultraconservative block be in the Senate that causes problems for Mitch McConnell like John Boehner has seen in recent years? You talk to House Republicans, who is the kind of snicker and say Mitch McConnell is going to start having the problems that we've been having. Not that our majority is bigger and it's a little more mainstream, we're not going to have those inter-party fights, but McConnell and Cruz definitely will."