Cruz on ObamaCare repeal: 'Yes we can'

Sen. Ted Cruz kicked off an annual gathering of the conservative faithful by accusing his own party of standing 'for nothing' in recent elections and urging the GOP to regain its stride by co-opting President Obama's mantra of 'hope and change.'

'Our country is at a crisis point,' the fiery Texas Republican said in the opening address of the Conservative Political Action Conference, held in suburban Washington.

Cruz addressed head on the current divide in the Republican Party between moderates looking anew for common ground with Democrats and party hard-liners like himself more than happy to keep waging battle against ObamaCare and other policies they see as representative of a bloated government.

'We need to repeal every single word of ObamaCare,' Cruz bellowed from the podium.

Cruz, to the delight of the crowd, borrowed Obama's famous campaign trail phrases from 2008.

Recalling the unsuccessful fight last fall to repeal the health care law, Cruz mocked the outcry from Democrats and the media.

'They said 'this is hopeless, don't you understand, just move on, just accept it, you can't do anything to stop this.' -- Yes we can,' he said.

His prescription for victory in the coming races? 'I'm going to suggest a radical agenda to you -- hope and change.' He claimed hope is diminishing around the world and in the American job market, and said Americans can still 'change' a 'corrupt and broken system.'

Cruz was unsparing in his criticism of the party's performance in the 2006, 2008 and 2012 elections.

'You want to lose elections? Stand for nothing,' he said. 'We put our head down, we stood for nothing and we got walloped.'

Cruz argued that when the party stood against ObamaCare in 2010, they won a 'historic tidal wave of an election.'

Cruz' speech was aimed not only at rallying the base but positioning himself as an unflinching foe of the administration -- particularly after last year's bruising fight against the health care law which led to a partial government shutdown. Republicans, led in part by Cruz, did not win any major changes to the law out of that fight.

Along with Cruz, House Budget Chairman Paul Ryan of Wisconsin headlined a crowded Thursday speaking program that also features National Rifle Association CEO Wayne LaPierre and New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie. Conservatives have been slow to embrace the New Jersey governor, who wasn't invited to last year's conference but gets the chance to make his first public address in Washington since a political retribution scandal erupted in January.

In Ryan's address, the 2012 GOP vice presidential nominee said he remains optimistic despite the party's presidential loss. And he disputed the notion that the GOP is divided.

'I don't see this great divide in our party,' he said. Ryan called it a 'vibrant debate,' while claiming conservatives are 'energized' while the left is 'exhausted.'

The event comes one year after Republican officials released a comprehensive plan to broaden the GOP's appeal after a disappointing 2012 election season. But the party is far from united as it looks to the future. The conference is expected to showcase intraparty divisions on foreign policy, political strategy and social issues.

The debate could weigh heavily on the November midterm elections, which will decide the balance of power on Capitol Hill for the final two years of President Obama's presidency.

With control of the Senate within the GOP's reach, American Conservative Union Chairman Al Cardenas says there are early signs of a pragmatic shift among conservative activists who typically favor ideological purity at all costs.

'Most people are realizing that it's cool to be selecting the most conservative in the race, but there's an additional caveat that needs to be added, and that's who can win in the general election,' he said.

Cardenas said the conference will also address Obama's positions on income inequality and the political unrest in Ukraine. He said he's particularly looking forward to intraparty debates in panel discussions with titles such as 'Can Libertarians and Social Conservatives Ever Get Along?'

news3blog.blogspot.com contributed to this report.