I don't believe Texas Sen. Ted Cruz when he says tea party activists must help nominate a Republican from their own ranks for the 2016 race or risk losing a third consecutive presidential election ("Cruz says true conservative needed," Jan. 19).
Senator Cruz supports a committed tea party nominee who, to my mind, isn't a true anything.
A true conservative is someone who is concerned about the future of the U.S. and all its citizens; a protector of traditional values and someone who is fiscally responsible to make sure we don't overextend ourselves.
He or she is engaged in public service, not in a zero sum game where the rich win and everyone else loses. A true conservative used to be someone who considered the lives and abilities and futures of all citizens, not an "ethic" based on winning elections by gerrymandering voting districts and pandering to big money.
They were worthy opponents to liberals like me. We used to have conversations, not diatribes; be able to work together by giving a little and getting a little; and come up with better solutions for the things that ail us as a nation. And to be completely honest, in today's political atmosphere true liberals are hard to find as true conservatives.
Susan Sachs Fleishman, Baltimore