Free Republic

AUSTIN -- In Texas, Ted Cruz can count on more than just his status as a favored son. His home-field advantage ahead of the March 1 primary banks on the vast network of activists -- dubbed his "grass-roots army" -- that he cultivated in his 2012 Senate upset and has carefully maintained ever since. Those troops now stand ready to fortify Cruz's White House bid at a particularly critical moment. Cruz won't be able to campaign the way he likes ahead of Super Tuesday by visiting every far-flung corner of the map -- Texas is just one of 13 states...

COLUMBIA, South Carolina (AP) - Texas Sen. Ted Cruz has formed his leadership team in Wisconsin and it includes some of the state's most conservative Republican lawmakers. Wisconsin state Sen. Duey Stroebel announced Monday that he will be serving as Cruz's campaign chairman in Wisconsin. The state's presidential primary is seven weeks away on April 5....

“They’ve been contacting me now,” Mr. Bohlmann, 47, a real estate investor in Denver, Iowa, said Thursday. “I would say a couple times a week I get calls.”

DES MOINES, Iowa - It's a little past 8:30 in the morning and Ken Brolin is marching down the narrow hallway of an old college dormitory, pounding on doors to make sure everyone's up and at 'em. But the three-story residence that sits next to a business college here is no longer housing students seeking a degree in administration or accounting. Instead, this is the temporary home for foot soldiers devoted to securing the Republican presidential caucuses for Ted Cruz. Brolin, who assisted Newt Gingrich's Iowa campaign in 2012, is a silver-haired political hand who is now the equivalent of...

HOUSTON, Texas – Today, the Cruz for President campaign announced its Kentucky State Leadership Team consisting of Tea Party and conservative leaders from across the Bluegrass State. Scott Hofstra, Marty Kares-Workman, Barbara Knott, and Boone County Constable Joe Kalil will serve as Kentucky Co-Chairs."From day one, Cruz has said we needed to coalesce conservatives around the country to get behind his campaign," said Hofstra. "And there is no better example of that than right here in Kentucky where the various Tea Party leaders have consolidated efforts to support Cruz. He is unapologetically conservative and routinely fights for the issues we...

U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz arrived Jan. 4 at the first stop on a six-day tour of Iowa. The Republican presidential candidate was set to visit 28 counties by bus. (Photo by Patrick Svitek) WASHINGTON — In the more than 200 events he's held since launching his campaign for the White House 10 months ago, Ted Cruz has tested out an unorthodox strategy, one that could rewrite the rules of Republican presidential politics.Since the Texas senator declared his candidacy in March, 40 percent of his public events have taken place in Iowa, according to a Texas Tribune analysis of his travel schedule as of Saturday. But...

Among the country's better pundits, it's an annual tradition to break out the figurative cat-'o'-nine-tails and indulge in a little ceremonial self-flagellation. For readers, there's sometimes little more satisfying than watching prognosticators and opinion-mongers publicly confess their sins of analysis. So this year, some of the braver ones have copped to underestimating Donald Trump - not just as a media magnet, but as a bona fide political force in the race for the Republican nomination. You won't be getting that from me. And Ted Cruz is the reason why. We'll get to why in a moment. First, as a separate...

The latest poll shows Ted Cruz opening his lead over Donald Trump in Iowa to nine points — nine points. If Cruz does indeed win in the Iowa caucuses on February 1, he’ll have enough momentum going into the February 9 New Hampshire primary to place second or third. The next primary will take place on February 20 in South Carolina, where the GOP primary voters are deeply conservative — and, I suspect, likely to give Cruz first place. Three days later the caucuses in Nevada will take place. Receiving little attention in the press, this event will be determined...

Ted Cruz has assembled an impressive presidential campaign structure in Iowa, veteran political observers here say, with one going so far as to describe Cruz’s campaign as perhaps "the most sophisticated" the first in the nation caucus state has ever witnessed. Because of that grass roots organization, Cruz is primed to maintain his recent surge in the polls and win the Iowa Republican caucuses in five weeks, those observers say. Cruz, the Tea Party firebrand and first term U.S. Sen. from Texas, was the first Republican candidate to enter the presidential race, on March 23. Nine months later, he has...

A report from the campaign field in Iowa demonstrates what could be a big problem for Donald Trump, getting all those people who have been showing up at his rallies to actually show up to vote: When Donald Trump held one of his boisterous rallies at the state fairgrounds this month, Bonnie and Randy Reynolds arrived two hours early to make sure they could snag seats. They bought “Make America Great Again” hats, put on campaign T-shirts and passed through a security checkpoint. The West Des Moines couple, who have two grown children, had never been to a political event...

DES MOINES | Ted Cruz has assembled an impressive presidential campaign structure in Iowa, veteran political observers here say, with one going so far as to describe Cruz's campaign as perhaps "the most sophisticated" the first-in-the-nation caucus state has ever witnessed.Because of that grassroots organization, Cruz is primed to maintain his recent surge in the polls and win the Iowa Republican caucuses in five weeks, those observers say.Cruz, a tea party firebrand and first-term U.S. senator from Texas, was the first Republican candidate to enter the presidential race, on March 23. Nine months later, he has overtaken longtime front-runner Donald...

Donald Trump seems to think he has revolutionized political campaigns. Without spending much money, he is on top of the national polls but is behind in Iowa and losing ground according to some polls in New Hampshire. Trump is running a campaign without spending money on polling, paid advertisements, or get-out-the-vote efforts. He probably views it as cost-effective, but it may end up costing him the nomination. His long-promised “next phase” defined by new spending, such as a wave of television commercials, has so far failed to materialize, week after week. His advisers have not revealed the existence of any...

Ted Cruz, staring at hundreds of thousands of dollars in negative advertisements against him in Iowa that show only signs of growing, is battling to keep pace there with his most aggressive push yet to maintain his momentum in the Hawkeye State. On Wednesday, the day that a fourth and fifth independent group launched paid media campaigns attacking Cruz as out of touch with Iowa Republicans, Cruz's campaign sent word that he will launch a 36-county, six-day tour right after the new year, his most extensive trip of the state so far. Cruz is expected to spend much of January...

Republican presidential candidate Ted Cruz speaks at a campaign stop at a Pizza Ranch restaurant in Newton, Iowa November 29, 2015. REUTERS/Mark Kauzlarich KNOXVILLE, Tennessee - Four hours before Ted Cruz was expected to arrive at Farragut High School, Tammy Purcell exclaimed cheerily, "I want to make sure I get in there. I want to give him this birthday cupcake," she said, explaining why she was the first person in line to see Cruz. She had come at 6 a.m., wielding a cupcake in one hand and a sign reading "Happy Birthday Ted" in the other as she waited...

HOUSTON, Texas - Today, the Cruz for President campaign announced 77,190 volunteers have signed on to help Ted Cruz become the next President of the United States. Volunteers have signed up in all 50 states and five territories, including 5927 in the first four primary and caucus states.The Cruz mobile app, which helps volunteers coordinate and sign up new people, has been downloaded 22,251 times. Cruz volunteers are currently working on expanding the campaign's network of support throughout the country by engaging in their communities, attending events, coordinating on social media, and asking friends and relatives to donate."Our volunteer network...

Las Vegas - James Dobson, founder of the Christian group Focus on the Family and one of the nation's most influential evangelicals, will endorse Ted Cruz for president today, according to sources briefed on the announcement. It will represent the latest in a series of endorsements for Cruz from prominent conservative leaders, dozens of whom met secretly last week and voted to coalesce their forces behind the Texas senator. The plan, as decided by the Tony Perkins-led group, is to slowly roll out endorsements from prominent conservative leaders individually to create a perception of the "movement" uniting behind Cruz. Dobson,...

As campaigns become more focused and debates become more heated, Ted Cruz is rapidly emerging as a front runner for the GOP. His highly organized grassroots efforts are spreading in Georgia like wildfire, and he is now the first presidential candidate with a campaign headquarters established in Lowndes County. The office will open with a ribbon cutting Wednesday, Dec. 16, at 3 pm. County Chairman Trey Taylor says, “Our nation is at a political crossroads. We cannot continue down the road we have traveled over the last several years. Leadership is what this nation needs, the kind of leadership Ted...

The Ted Cruz surge has officially arrived. Predictably, the same political class that previously didn’t give him any shot to win the nomination is now saying he’s “peaking too soon” or the “flavor of the month.” Here are five reasons why they’re wrong (as they almost always are). 1. Contrary to conventional wisdom, Iowa does not “break late.” Accounting for the upcoming holidays when most people tune out politics, there are about 40 days until Iowans vote in their first-in-the-nation caucuses. Cruz is now the leader in the Real Clear Politics polling average in Iowa. By that point in the...

Every show has an end. Just like "The Apprentice" - gripping the first few few seasons, tired and contrived in the last - Donald Trump's campaign is aging toward death, one reckless outburst at at time. Although the casual political junkie wouldn't know by the looks of most polls, the media fetish with The Donald and his cultish following.With primaries a bit less than 50 days out, at this point, previously skeptical pundits have assumed not only that Trump is the front-runner in the GOP primary, but that there is no real contest. But while cable news is capitalizing off...

The latest Des Moines Register poll shows Texas Senator Sen. Ted Cruz surging to a 10 point lead over his nearest rival, Donald Trump, among caucus goers in Iowa. Cruz's October surge is the largest jump measured over 5 Presidential campaigns. Cruz currently has the highest favorability rating of any Republican candidate for President. Cruz has 31 percent support, followed by Donald Trump with 21 percent. Since October, Cruz has gained 21 points while Trump has gained just 2 percent. Neurosurgeon Ben Carson is in 3rd place with 13 percent, down 15 points since October. Florida Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL)79%is...