Presidential contenders, blue and red, boasted their resumes Sunday as they prepare to announce their 2016 campaigns.
Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas, the only major Republican candidate to officially announce a run so far, showed off his leadership credentials on CNN’s “State of the Union.”
“I spent five and a half years as the solicitor general of Texas, the chief lawyer for the state of Texas in front of the U.S. Supreme Court,” Cruz said. “I supervised and led every appear for the state of Texas in a 4,000-person agency with over 700 lawyers. And over the course of five and a half years, over and over, Texas led the nation defending conservative principles and winning.”
He also claimed superior leadership skills over the current president.
“Unlike Barack Obama, I was not a community organizer before I was elected to the Senate,” Cruz said. He also said Obama was a “backbencher” while in the Senate.
Among the Democrats, former Maryland Gov. Martin O’Malley touted his own leadership skills. He listed several progressive laws he pushed forward during his tenure as governor, including legalizing gay marriage, tougher gun restrictions and extending privileges to illegal immigrants.
“I believe what people want is someone with proven executive experience and the ability to get things done,” O’Malley said on ABC’s “This Week.”
He also criticized his toughest would-be primary opponent, former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, whom he supported during her 2008 presidential run.
“For those times, I believe she would have been the best leader for our country,” O’Malley said. “We need a president who is willing to take on powerful, wealthy special interests.”
However, among Democrats, Clinton holds a significant lead, with 81 percent of voters supporting her to O’Malley’s 12 percent, according to a CBS poll released Sunday.
The poll also showed that former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush was favored among Republicans, with 51 percent of voters supporting him.
Another former governor, Republican Mike Huckabee of Arkansas, who trails Bush with 42 percent, showed off his supporters for a presidential run.
“I think the untold secret is a lot of the support that I have, and that I anticipate I will have, is from the working-class, blue-collar people who grew up a lot like I did — not blue-blood, but blue-collar,” Huckabee said on CBS’ “Face the Nation.”
O’Malley and Huckabee both said they would make a decision on their presidential runs this spring.
Former Hewlett Packard CEO Carly Fiorina also said there’s a “higher than 90 percent” chance that she will run for president in 2016 on the Republican ticket.
“I have a deep understanding of how the economy actually works, having started as a secretary and become the chief executive of the largest technology company in the world,” Fiorina said on “Fox News Sunday.”
She previously lost a 2010 campaign to unseat U.S. Sen. Barbara Boxer of California.
Fiorina was not listed on the CBS poll. She said she would announce her bid later this month or in early May.
Other top Republican contenders include Sens. Rand Paul of Kentucky and Marco Rubio of Florida, who are both sandwiched between Huckabee and Cruz in the ratings. Both are expected to announce their presidential bids in April.
Among Democrats, other potential contenders include Vice President Joe Biden and Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren.
