Posted on 12/04/2015 1:10:54 PM PST by Isara
|
| Presidential contender and U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz speaks with a supporter at the opening of his first Iowa office in Urbandale, Iowa on Sept. (Photo by Patrick Svitek) |
On Saturday, the campaign will officially open "Camp Cruz," a home base of sorts for Cruz's Iowa Strike Force, according to aides. The strike force is a group of volunteers mostly from his home state who have committed to work for the campaign in Iowa for a period of time in the lead-up to the caucuses.
Roughly 500 volunteers are expected to come and go between Saturday and the Feb. 1 nominating contest. They will be responsible for block walking, phone banks and other work in the campaign's Iowa office, which is in the Des Moines area.
The effort, in the works for months, is the latest chapter in Cruz's growing focus on the Hawkeye State. That's where polls show him rising to within striking distance of frontrunner Donald Trump.
"We've actually rented an entire college dormitory ... for volunteers to be up there knocking on doors in December and January," Cruz said during a speech last month in Lubbock, offering a preview of Camp Cruz. "They don't know what [will] hit them when the grassroots activists of Texas descend."
Cruz will be on hand to mark the formal opening of the camp Saturday morning, when he is set to hold a door-knocking kickoff party amid a two-day swing through the state.
The strike force has more than a dozen co-chairs tasked with recruiting so-called captains, who then organize their own groups of at least five volunteers. The co-chairs include Cruz's supporters in the Legislature, such as state Sen. Konni Burton of Colleyville, state Sen. Brandon Creighton of Conroe and state Rep. Matt Krause of Fort Worth. Also among the co-chairs are well-known conservative activists from across the state, such as Texas Eagle Forum President Cathie Adams, Republican National Committee members Robin Armstrong and Tyler Tea Party leader JoAnn Fleming.
"The Iowa caucus is exquisitely difficult and one of the most daunting and complicated political processes in America," Adams wrote last month in an email to Texas Eagle Forum supporters, asking them to get involved in the strike force. "And because it is so difficult, it is a true test of the ground game: the ability of campaigns to identify, win over and deliver voters."
The average member of the strike force is expected to stay for about a week or more. Volunteers are expected to cover their own expenses except for housing. The strike force is based in a dorm-like building with 24 rooms and 48 beds on the campus of AIB Business College, close to the Des Moines International Airport.
The effort was already getting underway Thursday, with the first wave of volunteers arriving at the camp. Among them was one of the co-chairs, Waco Tea Party President Toby Marie Walker, who tweeted that members of the strike force were baking cookies and decorating their doors to mark their first night together.
The launch of the strike force will coincide with Cruz's seventh trip to Iowa in eight weeks. Cruz is also scheduled to roll out his National 2nd Amendment Coalition on Friday afternoon at a gun range in Johnston and speak at FreedomWorks' Rising Tide Summit on Saturday afternoon in Cedar Rapids.
.
Ted Cruz should NOT take his current (excellent) Iowa status for granted ...
The long knives against Ted Cruz will emerge like satanic demons on 2 January 2016 ...
It will look like something from Lord of the Rings ...
Batten down the hatches, folks ...
.
He’s wise to get the ground game on before Christmas to help inoculate him for the attacks that will surely come. A personal contact is very effective.
“Mostly” from Texas, but there are plenty of volunteers from around the nation.
I have a critically ill child or I’d be right there with them.
I am one.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.