By Quentin Misiag
CORALVILLE — Republican presidential candidate Sen.Ted Cruz — buoyed by rising presidential poll numbers in the state — began the final day of retail politicking of his latest visit here like clockwork.
He opened with speech lines directed at evangelical voters, much as a pastor would in a Sunday service.
Then Texas’s junior senator peppered the audience — which numbered around 180 — with anecdotes about his upbringing.
Almost shouting, Cruz described how his mother, Eleanor Darragh Wilson, eventually landed at oil and energy powerhouse Shell. His father, Christian minister Rafael Cruz, a favorite speaker at Iowa’s Family Leadership Summit’s, is a Cuban immigrant.
Then, like he often does on the stump, he slung political mud at national Democrats, notably President Obama and Democratic presidential hopeful Hillary Clinton.
Finally, he took aim at national media, almost whining at how reporters have tried to turn the GOP presidential contest “into a food fight.”
“It was like Jerry Springer,” Cruz said inside the newly opened Kirkwood Regional Center at the University of Iowa. “I was waiting for them to give us chairs to throw at each other.”
Then 11-year-old Bridget Cisneros, a homeschooled student from West Liberty, seemed to take the presidential candidate down a notch with one simple question.
“What will you do for education?” she asked.
Unaware that Bridget and her family had seen or met almost all of the 17 current or former Republicans running for his party’s nomination, Cruz took the opportunity to spin the most basic campaign question.
He opened with his outright opposition to Common Core, the national initiative sponsored by the National Governors Association and the Council of Chief State Schools Officers that aims to create consistent educational states across all 50 states.
One pillar of the program is to make sure that high-school students are prepared to enter two- and four-year colleges or enter the job market.
“Homeschool is even better,” Cruz quietly told Bridget, kneeling slightly to reach her height. Then, pivoting dramatically, Cruz told her that federal officials in Washington are trying to make it so that junior high boys could shower with junior high girls in school locker rooms.
Despite Cruz’s claim, there is no such federal plan in place.
That line received little reaction from the audience, who was largely composed of retired UI employees, local laborers, longtime Iowa City Republican activist Tom Cilek, and Coralville City Administrator Kelly Hayworth.
Surrogates for other presidential candidates, including Democratic presidential candidate Martin O’Malley, were also in attendance.
“I like what his answer was. I thought it was very strong-like because I know he has kids of his own,” Bridget said after the appearance.
Although seven years shy of legally being able to vote, Bridget proudly said if she was old enough, Cruz would have her vote.
Monday’s appearance, in a blue button-down collared shirt and blue jeans, was a prime example of Cruz’s newly shifted campaign.
Cruz has long been a favorite to some evangelical voters in Iowa. Those voters have historically made up a large majority of Iowa caucus-going electorate. But only recently have his political fortunes turned a corner.
Campaign operatives are increasingly pointing to a vast field operation. His recent endorsement by conservative hardliner Rep. Steve King, R-Iowa, appears on the home page of his website, tedcruz.org.
A recent Quinnipiac University poll of likely Republican caucus-goers gave Cruz 23 percent support, which narrowly trails business magnate turned reality TV star Donald Trump’s 25 percent support.
“Last month, we said it was Dr. Ben Carson’s turn in the spotlight. Today, the spotlight turns to Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas. The Iowa Republican caucus has become a two-tiered contest: Businessman Donald Trump and neurosurgeon Ben Carson lead on the outsider track, and Sens. Ted Cruz and Marco Rubio lead among party insiders,” said Peter A. Brown, assistant director of the Quinnipiac University Poll, in a public statement.
The landline and cell-phone poll was conducted from Nov. 16-22, throughout Iowa, from 600 likely Republican caucus-goers. The poll has a margin of error of plus or minus 4 percentage points.
With a paper coffee cup in hand, Cruz appeared tired, but not beat down enough to take more than 20 minutes of questions. Throughout Iowa and fellow early voting state New Hampshire, Cruz is seen as a skilled retail politician.
He has already committed to visiting all 99 counties in Iowa, in what has become known as a “Full Grassley” after longtime Sen. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa. To date, he has done almost 90 events over the course of 40 days in Iowa, according to Daily Iowan records.
Iowans who spoke with the DI this week and at the Coralville stop dubbed Cruz one of the few “honorable” Republican candidates left in the race that regularly makes visiting Iowa a priority.
Some, like Cilek, the Iowa City activist, say he is the “smartest guy in the Senate” despite knowing little about his personal demeanor.
“I’ve known Ted Cruz for about one minute,” Cilek joked before introducing Cruz at the event.
