Cruz Surges in New Iowa Republican Poll

The woes of lower-tier Iowa-minded candidates are deepening.

More than half of each political grouping – Democrats, independents and Republicans – favored allowing illegal immigrants to apply for legal status. And he has one potent example of Rubio’s apostasy that he intends to bring up as often as is necessary: the 2013 comprehensive immigration reform bill, which Rubio helped pass in the Senate.

Christian conservatives have always been a powerful force in Iowa, especially in recent caucuses when they boosted Huckabee and Santorum to victories in Iowa in 2008 and 2012, respectively. Notably absent from Friday’s religiously themed forum were Trump, Christie. “They don’t know a lot of these other guys”.

A lot of the skepticism to Trump – and I include my skepticism here – assumes that at some point, Republican voters take the cue from Republican elites that this guy either is a bad bet in the general or ideologically untrustworthy.

With efforts underway to undermine Trump, and both Cruz and Rubio climbing in Republican-based polls, all GOP voters can do is wait for the dust to settle.

My suspicion that voting for Trump is like starting a food fight at the dinner table-more often threatened than executed-is strengthened by a CBS News poll from Iowa and New Hampshire released last weekend.

Those four, who have spent relatively little time here, are attacking each other while the rest of the field watches from afar.

However, GOP strategist Charlie Black said the 2016 nominating contest “will eventually fall into the normal pattern of one outsider and one insider, and historically the insider always wins”.

Politico interviewed Doug Gross, who is a knowledgeable Iowa Republican. Ingoglia, a Spring Hill Republican who also serves in the state House, said things would tighten in the weeks ahead. On October 8, Cruz admitted his strategy was to eventually win over Trump’s supporters. Then come the Nevada caucuses, and nobody’s polling that much for some reason, but Rubio looks to be way behind there, too.

“We’re all good guys”, Rubio told one voter, who like more than a few here in Iowa, is torn between Rubio and Cruz. If you’re a liberal, this news should make you very excited. “We’re going to try and pull you over”. “So we don’t think there’s a need yet”.

“Ted Cruz voted to weaken America’s ability to identify and hunt down terrorists”, the ad says, interspersing footage of bombs detonating with news reports from the Paris attack. “Because I can feel it. My father always used to say… everything you touch just turns to gold, and he’s got a great sense of location and business and things”.

It’s working, at least as far as Iowa is concerned.

To voters like Jeannie Leiean, who watched Cruz here, the national stars shouldn’t just expect to ride to victory on their larger-than-life personas.

“Because Ted Cruz is surging in the polls, the Washington cartel is now so desperate they would openly abandon the Fourth Amendment that protects citizens from unconstitutional searches”, Cruz spokesman Rick Tyler said in a statement to the Texas Tribune on Monday. Trump, who didn’t announce his campaign until mid-June, has led the race for the longest time of any of the 18 (or so) candidates who have run or are running for the GOP nod.

Ben Carson would fade.

Vander Plaats, who plans to endorse in early December, said he could see another candidate who works the state hard rising into the four-way fray. “They make that argument to distract from their own record on national security”, Rubio told the newspaper. “It’s all in”, he said after his event.