Ted Cruz is making a desperate last-minute plea to Iowa evangelicals, telling them he’s the only one who can stop Donald Trump—but only with their help. According to video from Christian news show The Brody File, Cruz told a group of Iowa pastors that:
… right now, between Donald and me, this is neck and neck. It is an absolute dead heat. And if Donald wins Iowa, he right now has a substantial lead in New Hampshire, if he went on to win New Hampshire as well, there is a very good chance he could be unstoppable and be our nominee. And the next seven days in Iowa will determine whether or not that happens. So even if you’re thinking about another candidate, the simple reality is there’s only one campaign that can beat Trump in this state, and if conservatives simply stand up and unite, that’s everything.
Cruz is not only threatening these pastors with the prospect of President Trump, he’s enticing them with the prospect of being kingmakers, something Iowa Christian leaders try for every presidential cycle but don’t necessarily succeed at. It’s too bad for Cruz this plea may be coming too late. If a new NBC News/Survey Monkey poll is to be believed, evangelical Christians are coming around to Trump in a big way, giving him 37 percent support while Cruz dropped nine points to 20 percent support. But I guess that’s a reason for Cruz to go to the pastors rather than the individual voters: He’s looking for a leader to hand out instructions, a shortcut to evangelical votes rather than winning over the people in the pews himself.
While there’s plenty of BS on both sides when Trump says Cruz is “just saying lie after lie” about Trump’s record, he’s not wrong on this one:
"He’s so nervous," Trump told ABC News' George Stephanopoulos on "Good Morning America." "He’s such a mess."
I would have said the Iowa caucuses can’t possibly come soon enough, but the thought of Cruz in an even worse agony of waiting, going around begging Iowa pastors to bail him out, is pretty sweet.