News Analysis: Ted Cruz cannot be counted out this early in race to White House

With U.S. Senator Ted Cruz's announcement of his candidacy for the 2016 U.S. presidential race earlier this week, many political pundits have already dismissed him. But some others also contend it is far too early to count him out.

While the race for the White House is still more than one year away, candidates from both the Republican Party and the Democratic Party are gearing up for elections early. Cruz, a conservative Republican, on Monday became the first Republican candidate to formally announce his decision to run for president in 2016.

While several others are expected to announce their campaigns in the coming months, there are already a few front-runners, with Cruz trailing in the polls.

But some experts warned against dismissing his campaign so early in the process, as the 2016 elections are still far away, and anything can change as candidates scramble for the nomination, elbow each other out and gain strength in the fog of political battle.

"Cruz understands that a crowded field of 12 or more GOP (Republican Party) candidates is completely unpredictable. There likely will be surprise outcomes given the uncertainty of such a large field," Brookings Institution's senior fellow Darrell West told Xinhua.

"How well someone does will depend not just on his own performance but on other candidates sharing the same part of the ideological spectrum. Cruz is positioning himself with evangelical Christians so his main competition right now is (from) Huckabee and Carson," said West, referring to the darling of social conservatives, former Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee, as well as conservative candidate Ben Carson, respectively.

"If he can do better than they do, Cruz could become one of the last three candidates standing. Even if Cruz doesn't win, he will have a major national platform to discuss leading issues facing the country," West said.

Former Florida Governor Jeb Bush still has the best odds of getting the nomination because of his name and access to money, but he faces major doubts from conservatives, so it will be tricky for him as well, West said.

Indeed, while Bush leads Republican candidates, experts say he needs to improve his ability to connect with rank-and-file GOP voters.

Bush led a recent CNN/ORC poll on 2016 GOP presidential hopefuls, beating out Huckabee, who dropped six points from last month, but he needs to broaden his base of supporters if he hopes to clinch the GOP nomination, experts said.

While Bush is winning in the race for donors, endorsements and staffers, he needs to make gains with rank-and-file Republicans, Republican strategist Ford O'Connell told Xinhua.

"The establishment appears at this point to be consolidated behind him, but they are not sure whether his billion dollar balloon is going to bust," O'Connell said.

"Jeb has to find a way to make inroads beyond the establishment if he wants to win this nomination," he said. Endi