Posted on 01/04/2016 2:56:01 PM PST by Isara
BOONE, Iowa -- Republican presidential candidate Ted Cruz dismissed attacks against his record and his personal style Monday, suggesting that his political rivals are "panicking" as the Iowa caucuses approach.
Watch the video at the link. (Ted Cruz Not Getting Drawn Into 'Muck' of Personal Attacks 0:27)
"Listen, politicians behave a certain way when they are panicking," he told NBC in an exclusive interview aboard his campaign bus. "And they engage in attacks, they engage in personal attacks, that's human nature. I understand that. I am not going to get drawn into that muck."
*** Tune in to NBC Nightly News Monday to see more of the exclusive interview. ***
Cruz has increasingly come under fire from fellow GOP candidates as he has risen in primary polls. On Monday, Florida Sen. Marco Rubio alluded to Cruz's foreign policy stances, knocking "isolationist candidates more passionate about weakening our intelligence capabilities than about destroying our enemies." Former Pennsylvania Sen. Rick Santorum released a campaign ad mocking Cruz's infamous reading of the Dr. Seuss classic "Green Eggs and Ham" during a filibuster-like speech on the Senate floor in 2013. And last month, Donald Trump appeared to question Cruz's religious faith based on his Cuban ancestry, telling a crowd in Des Moines that "I do like Ted Cruz, but not a lot of evangelicals come out of Cuba."
Cruz demurred when asked by NBC News whether Trump's statement constitutes "panicking."
"I'm going to keep the focus on the issues that matter," he said.
"We are seeing the entire world on fire, radical Islamic terrorism on the rise, where we are abandoning Israel, we are abandoning our allies," he added. "What the American people are interested in is not a bunch of silly attacks from Washington politicians. They want real solutions to the problems in this country."
Watch the video at the link. (Cruz's Iowa Bus Tour Brings Out Thoughts of Family 1:57)
Cruz has steadfastly avoided attacking Trump, who remains the GOP front-runner nationally even as the Texas senator himself has risen to a top slot in the all-important state of Iowa.
But he has not been shy about differentiating himself from fellow Sen. Marco Rubio. On Monday, a super PAC supporting Cruz released an ad contrasting the severity of various foreign policy conundrums with Rubio's recent jokes about picking his fantasy football team.
Cruz said Monday that Rubio is "very well liked in Washington," a comment clearly meant as a dig at the Florida senator's relative popularity within the Washington establishment.
"I think what voters are looking for is someone who honors the commitments that he made to the men and women who have elected us. Someone who is a leader. Someone who has demonstrated that he will take on not just Democrats but leaders in our own party. Someone who will take on the Washington cartel," Cruz said. "And I like Marco but my record is markedly different, not just from Marco's but from every candidate on that debate stage."
Cruz told NBC News that the increasing intensity of attacks on his campaign signals his success in the crowded GOP field.
"Two weeks ago, just about every Republican candidate was attacking Donald Trump. Today just about every Republican candidate is attacking me," he said. "That seems to be an indication that something has changed in the race."
Cruz is embarking on a 28-stop tour of Iowa over the next six days, looking to seal the deal with four weeks until the state takes the first stab at picking the GOP's presidential nominee.
Cruz's stops will take him to rural pockets of the state in his quest to visit all of Iowa's 99 counties before the Feb. 1 caucus.
For the first time last week, Trump acknowledged to a crowd in Council Bluffs, Iowa, that he may lose the state's contest, saying he may be "setting myself up" for a letdown if he were to lose the caucus.
Rubio - a distant third - completed a multi-day bus tour last week, stepping up an up his ground presence to make a late push in the state.
Cruz told NBC that his campaign does not view Iowa - or any of the early primary states - as a must-win, but that the team will fight hard for wins in each place.
"We are going to compete hard and try to win in every state but we don't believe there is any state that is a must win for us," he said.
Cruz also shared with NBC News the challenges of staying connected to his family, especially his two young daughters, who are seven and five.
"The girls just got an iPad and they are very excited, so they just learned how to FaceTime," he said, saying that his absence from his daughters is the "hardest thing" he's experienced during the campaign.
"We do lots of phone calls and FaceTime but it's not the same."
“Trump is like meth. He gets you high and feeling invincible... but you also become an addict and seeing things crawling inside your own skin. Eventually, it will destroy you.”
A little over the top, don’t you think?
It is fiction to say that the left (Dem and GOPe) will be happy with a Cruz win. Neither will they be happy with a Trump win, for different reasons. I think they are truly stumped.
The one good thing we should all be able to agree on is that finally the public is waking up to the bias in the media and the betrayals of the GOPe.
I read this thread and am less interested in Cruz as VP...
Absolutely right. He’s handling the attacks very well too, with a smile and the truth. :)
Very funny!!
“I don’t like such extreme intimidation because it is just one more way to shut down debate.”
And THANKFULLY Trump will not allow that ‘extreme intimidation’ to prevent him from discussing Bill Clinton’s past.
I donated to, volunteered and love Ted Cruz, but I am probably going to vote for Trump, hoping desperately that he will have Cruz as VP. I vote late in Arizona. If it looks like Cruz will get enough deleagtes to keep Trump from 50% and make Cruz the kingmaker at the convention I would vote Cruz to ensure he gets the VP slot.
Here are the two reasons I will vote for Trump. (1) and the biggest reason is I think in the general election he will be merciless to Hillary and will attract a lot of populist Democrats, independents and people who don’t always vote. He will either crash and burn magnificently or he will win a landslide like we haven’t seen since 1984. Cruz would have a very narrow gate to navigate to win the general. Like Trump he won’t get a lot of help or money from the GOPe but unlike Trump he doesn’t have a billion dollars of his own money to play with. And despite the MSM hating Trump he is such a ratings draw that they constantly give him free press coverage. The MSM will blackout Ted Cruz. Cruz’s victory plan relies on a super high turnout of conservatives, evangelicals, and republican voters who have sat out elections because “there was just no difference between the parties.” He will trounce Hillary in every debate and every media exchange but the Democrat machine will turn out their votes regardless, they don’t depend on a thinking electorate like we do. Cruz will get no more of the black vote than Romney or McCain. Trump has a good shot at shaving several points off the the usual 96% Dem vote in the black community and only a few points change will be devastating to Democrats in the battleground states.
Number (2) reason. Even if Cruz can win the general he will have a hard time with the house and senate. His executive actions and judicial appointments will be a conservative dream, but his ability to pass big reform legislation will be tough. Trump if he wins will have a populist mandate which the house elected every two years will be very fearful of opposing. I am no sucker. I don’t trust Trump to be any kind of movement conservative, but he has a few big conservative ideas that he is making a big deal about and staking his reputation on so there will be at least some big changes in America.
I stand by my prediction that Iowa will be loudly touted by the MSM as "all important" unless Trump wins, in which case it will suddenly be relegated to "unimportant" status.
“Trump is like meth. He gets you high and feeling invincible... but you also become an addict and seeing things crawling inside your own skin. Eventually, it will destroy you.”
This was well done, FRiend. I’m kind of jealous.
me too
But a Cruz win in Iowa....that would thrill the MSM, GOPe and the Dems to no end! Anything that would weaken Trump's grasp on the nomination, as they really only fear Trump.
They are falling over themselves simply imagining that Trump would lose Iowa. Why do you suppose all of the MSM outlets are talking about it now?
They're hoping that a Rino opportunity candidate will present itself or that Hillary will simply win following their haymaking effort of an Iowa Trump loss.
Trump is a game changer, and if he gets the nomination the political class, pundits, and all that we despise will cry buckets. A Cruz win in Iowa would make their day!
You are making up a theory you like. You have no proof other than your own wishful thinking and hope that the theory will benefit Trump in the minds of the weak and easily led.
You cannot possibly know a group of the liberal “they”s want Cruz to win Iowa. It is wrong to promote fiction as a support for your candidate. If your candidate is so strong, let him win without fictional slanderous theories.
+1
Yes, I wont’ argue with you . It is indeed a bizarre election. I still support Cruz because I don’t want the Trump alternative to be Rubio or worse. If it’s a two man race between Trump & Cruz I win either way.
Thanks for that lengthy response. I have a sense many people may feel that way.
P.S. Here is something I wrote on another thread.
The problem for me is that one must win the election in order to end up being President.
Winning the election and performing as President are two different things.
Which one is better at winning ? If we don’t have a winner, what that candidate might do as President seems a moot point.
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.