Rubio continues to press Cruz on immigration

Cruz has positioned himself as the tea party outsider and evangelical favorite, while Rubio is now tops in the polls among more establishment favorites.

Sen. Ted Cruz released this extensive explanation of the truth behind claims that he supported the 2013 “gang of eight” Amensty bill. “What we shouldn’t do is intentionally mislead Americans about the positions of others – and it’s disappointing Senator Rubio has chosen that path”, Vander Plaats said in a statement.

But when it comes to the issue that Hispanics care the most about, immigration, they are a picture of contrasts.

“When you spend your whole time telling people that you’re a clear talker and you say what you mean and everyone else is a sellout but you’re the only purist, I think it’s fair to say, ‘Well hold on a second, here’s where you’ve been on the past on some issues and here’s where you are now”, he said. “It’s not an attack”. Cruz has said he does not support amnesty but in Las Vegas, when pressed on his support for legalization, hedged ever so slightly. As he did during the debate, the Texas senator declined to say what he would do with the estimated 11 million immigrants now in the country illegally, but he accused Rubio of joining with Democrats to support “amnesty”.

While Rubio skipped a vote Friday on a crucial spending bill that funds the government through October, Cruz pushed his rally in Virginia back to ensure he could cast a “no” vote against the bill.

Tyler said he had gotten an early peak at Frank Luntz’s focus group dials during the debate, which showed Rubio’s favorability among conservative voters dropping every time he talked about immigration.

“I think he might be a little weak there”, said Muscatine resident Jim Simmons, 49, who’s still deciding between Rubio and Cruz.

Later, in Minnesota on Thursday, Cruz said that Rubio had broken the vow he had made to the voters who elected him in 2010. “He’s the one that, for example, supports doubling the number of green cards”. “He strongly supported legalizing people that were in this country illegally”. Note, though, that all of his criticism is reserved for a path to citizenship, not for giving illegals some form of basic legalization via work permits. Cruz proposed an amendment to the Gang of Eight’s plan that would have taken citizenship off the table. I was happy, you know obviously, with the CNN decision. But neither of them would make that mistake again.

Cruz further clarified that his amendments to Rubio’s bill worked like what Van Susteren called, a “poison pill” effectively killing Rubio’s bill that would have created amnesty and a path to citizenship for America’s illegal immigrants.

Rubio, facing vast pressure from the right and the reality that the GOP-controlled House was not even going to vote on the measure, began walking back his support soon after it passed the Senate. “He’s a friend of mine, he’s charming, he’s an incredible communicator”, Cruz said at a campaign event in Georgia on Saturday.

And by exposing the hypocrisy, by calling their bluff, we won.

The question now, as reporters and strategists pore over transcripts and interviews two and a half years old, is whether Cruz meant it at the time. Weird how Republicans don’t support that.

In fact, immigration has become such a wedge issue between Florida Sen. If you would like to discuss another topic, look for a relevant article.

Cruz has been steadily climbing and overtaking Trump in Iowa, and there is some evidence that the Texas senator is managing to perform similarly nationally.