Texas Senator Ted Cruz became the first major party candidate to announce their campaign for President of the United States, to replace President Barack Obama, who has reached the term limit and will be out off office January 2017. One thing that Cruz and Obama have in common is the time they had spent in The United States Senate before announcing a run. Barack Obama was only a Senator from Illinois for little over 2 years, the same amount of time as Ted Cruz.

Barack Obama and Ted Cruz both have Ivy League credentials, with degrees from Harvard Law School. They both have two young daughters. They both served in the Senate for only two years before going against conventional wisdom and declaring their ambitious White House ambitions.

However Cruz and Obama’s similarities end there. Cruz has been extremely critical of Obama care and at his presidential announcement said as President he would “repeal every last word of Obama care.” Cruz is also strongly pro life, and supports offshore oil drilling. He also has been critical of what he calls “The Obama Administration’s assault of gun rights and religious liberty.”

So how good are Cruz’s chances? Most polls show Cruz trailing by double digits to Democratic front runner Hillary Clinton. In early Primary and Caucus polls for Republicans, Cruz polls between 5% and 10%. Those numbers aren’t super encouraging, but Obama had similar numbers to Cruz and managed to get elected.

Another potential setback for Cruz is the fact that he was not born in The United States. Cruz was born in Canada, the son of Cuban parents. Although he has renounced his Canadian citizenship, he may still face legal questions and hurdles with regards to his run for the presidency. Senator Cruz has certainly been a bomb thrower during his time in The US Senate. Only time will tell if he can handle the heat of the campaign.