While Donald Trump and Ted Cruz fight it out for primacy in Iowa, the also-rans are desperately trying to remind voters of their existence, particularly evangelical voters. Jeb! Bush is bitter about Trump getting the Falwell endorsement, questioning whether Trump is a Christian (spoiler alert! No, not really). Mike Huckabee (yes, he's still running!) has decided he might be able to knock off Ted Cruz, who has slipped in the Iowa polls, by running a new ad claiming Cruz is a phony.
The ad, which is being aired by the pro-Huckabee super PAC Pursuing America’s Greatness and was previewed for BuzzFeed News, depicts two women chatting prior to a group Bible study about the upcoming Iowa caucuses. The women are shown discussing recent leaked comments in which Cruz privately told donors he wouldn’t prioritize fighting same-sex marriage if he was elected; they also talk about Cruz’s reportedly meager record of charitable giving. […]
"He doesn't tithe?" one woman says in the ad. "A millionaire that brags about his faith all the time?"
"Just what we need—another phony," the second woman responds.
The ad ends with the first woman concluding, "Guess we've narrowed down our list. Can't caucus for Cruz," while her friends nods solemnly in agreement.
Maybe it's an issue for the truly devout, we'll see. It wasn't enough of one to keep Tony Perkins of the Family Research Council from endorsing the guy. One suspects that his endorsement has less to do with God than his appreciation of Cruz's being an asshole to President Obama. "I believe the one who is best positioned, best prepared to lead this nation forward, pulling it out of the tailspin this president has put us in, I believe it is Ted Cruz," he said. He also thinks Cruz is the best guy for getting Supreme Court justices that he, Tony Perkins, would approve. Hedging his bets, however, Perkins said that there's something "attractive" in Donald Trump, and he's "not going to say anything negative of Donald Trump."
Sorry, Huck. You're a loser. Everyone knows you're a loser. They're hitching their wagons to likelier bets.