a right we fear losing," Patterson wrote in an op-ed column.

The sharp turn to the right Republican hopefuls have made shouldn't surprise anyone, said Mark P. Jones, chairman of the political science department at Rice University.

"They are all of the opinion that nothing is going to change in 2014," Jones said in reference to the political landscape, which is expected to begin changing by the end of the decade, largely because of the fast-growing Hispanic population.

Moreover, despite the public criticism Cruz and congressional Republicans received for the 16-day partial shutdown of the federal government, most Texas Republicans are trying to emulate the junior senator, Jones noted.

They can move far to the right because their party controls all statewide offices and both legislative chambers, something Christie and Republicans inHangin’ with Dallas Smith on the Side Effects Tour

Ok, so as the Side Effects Tour continues to roll through Ontario and Western Canada we had a chance to catch up with Dallas Smith at the Oshawa stop of the tour.

It had been awhile since the last time Dallas and I had a chance to talk. Almost a year ago actually around the time of the release of his current album Side Effects. One of the things I was most interested in talking about was the idea of bringing along American acts to support his run across Canada with the likes of The Cadillac Three, Lauren Alaina and Micheal Ray. And I also wanted to know with the big production now behind him how has his performance changed for