Posted on 08/21/2015 9:46:05 PM PDT by VinL
He quoted Scipture, warned in near-apocalyptic terms of intensifying threats to religious liberty, and comforted a woman who was nearly in tears over the financial repercussions of refusing to host a gay wedding.
Ted Cruz was in full-on preacher mode Friday night here in the Hawkeye State as he hosted a rally for religious freedom that drew more than 2,500 Iowans, representatives of an evangelical constituency that will make or break the Texas senator’s campaign here as he seeks to solidify support with this deeply conservative caucus electorate.
“You wonder why we have a federal government that comes after our free speech rights, that comes after our religious liberty, that comes after life, that comes after marriage, that comes after our values?” Cruz roared to the audience, packed into a cavernous ballroom in downtown Des Moines. To cheers, he continued, “It is because 54 million evangelical Christians stayed home [in 2012]. Well I’m here to tell you, we will stay home no longer.”
The rally reflects Cruz’s push to engage religious conservatives — a key to his strategy in Iowa and beyond, particularly in the South. The event Friday night included remarks from people who have been at the center of some of the most high-profile battles over whether private businesses can decline to provide goods for same-sex weddings, including Melissa and Aaron Klein, who came under fire for refusing to make a wedding cake for a gay wedding, and Barronelle Stutzman, a florist who did the same thing.
In interviews, attendees, some of whom had driven in from across the state —and even outside the state —for the event, gave the senator credit for putting a human face on an issue that many consider the most pressing political issue of the day. They said Cruz’s ability to talk about faith in the public arena made them more likely to back him.
“I just appreciate what he did tonight, bringing people to Iowa, letting us hear their stories on a personal level,” said Joy Cooley, 64, of nearby Ankeny, Iowa, who like half-a-dozen attendees interviewed, said Cruz’s performance Friday night made her more inclined to support him, though she hasn’t committed yet.
“We need to get back to our Biblical roots,” added Mike Moffitt of Creston, Iowa, who along with his wife, Judy, saw Cruz as a good communicator of those values.
He also won over the support of Naghmeh Abedini, whose husband, Pastor Saeed Abedini, is imprisoned in Iran and whose case is often discussed in the religious Christian community. She appeared onstage with Cruz to discuss the perils facing free expression of religion abroad.
In orchestrating the event, Cruz linked his campaign with people who are considered heroes by religious Christian conservatives, another move to emerge as the favorite candidate of evangelicals. It’s a crowded lane in which a host of other candidates, including Ben Carson, Bobby Jindal, Mike Huckabee, Scott Walker and Rick Santorum, are all seeking to compete in Iowa.
First up onstage Friday night were Dick and Betty Odgaard, an Iowa couple who would not host a gay wedding at a venue they owned because they felt doing so would violate their religious beliefs. The two have been the subject of a lawsuit and closed their business. The senator sat down with the Odgaards onstage and prompted them to tell their story, bringing Betty Odgaard to the verge of tears.
“I know this has been a very hard journey,” Cruz told them, leaning over to hold Betty Odgaard’s hand in a rare public display of softer emotions from the senator. “Scripture tells us, God ordered our steps.”
“Amen,” she replied.
Ahead of Cruz’s presidential announcement, many observers expected Iowa to be fertile ground for the deeply conservative senator, who arrived in the Senate on a wave of grassroots support in Texas. He has continued to impress tea party and evangelical activists with his forceful tussles with more moderate members of his own party, over everything from Planned Parenthood to Obamacare.
But Cruz’s efforts here got off to a slow start, with the buzz this summer focusing heavily on Donald Trump, Carson, and until recently, Walker.
His approach to Iowa up until this point has been lower-key: he has quietly courted prominent activists and pastors, focused on fundraising and spent time setting up infrastructure, including in later-voting states, with the goal of being able to focus more fully on the early states after the fundamentals were in place.
But his rally Friday, the biggest event he’s held in the state to date — the biggest rally held by any candidate in Iowa, his campaign claims — appears to signal a new phase in his Iowa campaign.
Earlier Friday, during an appearance at the state fair, Cruz communicated his intentions to play seriously in the state to Lt. Gov. Kim Reynolds as they crossed paths at the Iowa Pork Tent, where Cruz had just finished grill duties, and Reynolds, a prominent and influential Iowa figure, was stepping up for her turn. Cruz was overheard telling Reynolds that he had committed to do the “Full Grassley,” a visit to all of Iowa’s 99 counties, an event named for Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa), who pioneered the strategy.
“It’s still early,” Reynolds told POLITICO afterwards. “There’s so many candidates so there’s a lot of competition, but there’s still time, they just need to get out in the state and make an effort to go to all 99 counties and meet with Iowans.”
And if the reception at the rally was any indication, there’s still plenty of appetite among Iowans to meet with Cruz. The room was more restrained than other events at which Cruz has spoken, particularly in the South — but it was packed with people who were interested in hearing more, and many walked out saying he had moved up in their candidate rankings. His biggest applause lines often came when he blasted what he described as an assault by the government on religious liberty.
“The greatest trick the left has ever played is to convince conservatives that Americans don’t share our values. America is and remains a center-right country, we are and remain a country built on Judeo-Christian values,” he told the crowd, bringing attendees raucously to their feet.
For more than two hours, the crowd listened as Cruz and some of his supporters, including prominent Iowa radio host Steve Deace, facilitated a program that mixed speeches from the candidate with testimony and question-and-answer sessions from the individuals embroiled in religious liberty controversies.
Following a summer in which the Supreme Court backed same-sex marriage and upheld a key Obamacare provision, Cruz —a former Supreme Court clerk and Texas solicitor general himself —earned sustained applause when he charged, “Rights don’t come from black-robed lawyers or from politicians in Washington, they come from God.”
Earlier in the day, Cruz received a milder— but still enthusiastic — reception when he dropped by the Iowa State Fair. The senator, in a button-down shirt, jeans and his trademark ostrich skin cowboy boots, delivered an energetic version of his usual stump speech from a soapbox platform sponsored by the Des Moines Register. Then he spent several hours traipsing across the fairgrounds. He complimented a toddler’s pink hat, talked baseball with a young boy and went out of his way to talk to every voter in a wheelchair who approached him.
He wound his way to the Iowa Pork Tent, where he donned a red apron bearing the words “Pork. Be inspired” and his name. Cruz flipped the meat under the glare of cameras and the gaze of hungry bystanders and supporters alike. There were several awkwardly long silence, but Cruz attempted at times to make conversation —mostly about whether the pork looked done —until the lull was interrupted by actress Ellen Page, who engaged him in a spirited back-and-forth over gay rights.
That exchange, it turned out, was a preview of his message Friday night.
”We are a country that respects pluralism and diversity,” he told her. “And there is this liberal intolerance that says that anyone that dares follow a Biblical teaching of marriage, that is the union of one man and one woman must be persecuted, must be fined and must be driven out of business.”
The video for this event is 2+ hours. But, for those concerned with the infringement of religious liberty, it's worthy of the time.
http://www.c-span.org/video/?327740-1/senator-ted-cruz-rtx-religious-rally-des-moines-iowa
THUMBS UP FOR TED CRUZ.......
I listened to Donald Trump’s speech and his repeal and replace Obamacare sounds no different from the rest of the pack.
Trump referenced the Bible once, but kept away from the First Amendment freedom of speech and freedom of religion issues Ted Cruz is willing to talk about with a rally like this one.
Dump Trump, Vote Cruz:
Wm. Buckley said we put forth the “most conservative,” and the “most electable.” Cruz is that guy.
“It is because 54 million evangelical Christians stayed home [in 2012]. Well I’m here to tell you, we will stay home no longer.””
Sorry. Not if the Jebster get it.
God bless you, Reverend Cruz!
Both Donald Trump and Jeb Bush would make me skip 2016.
Thanks for the link. Can’t wait to view it!
I see AARP’s Obamacare supporting socialists have a presence there.
Obama’s next major step will be to replace Ginsburg before he leaves office to make sure the liberals maintain control of the country via the supreme court....and McConnell and Boehner will support it and push it through.
Is there any candidate who supports these christian business people who have been run out of business by the state like Ted Cruz?
Frankly it doesn’t matter as there were signs there of Democrats who switched to Trump....besides if everyone eliminated or boycotted those who supported something they didn’t approve of nobody would be in business.....just as sanctions don’t work....
I doubt it. Ginsburg will be around for a little while longer.
That’s his point
This should have been covered by all the media. Can’t believe FOX covered Trump last night over this. Fox is pushing Trump on us like they did McCain and Romney.
Yes it would have helped Cruz, but more important, the American people need to hear the stories of those heroes that were on stage with Cruz.
I would love to see God take a hand in such. Like He did in the Old Testament —with the ungodly Priests and/or kings falling over dead in their sins.
Unfortunately, there's been a media blockade around Cruz since he first announced.
One wicked O. T. king was consumed by worms.
Agree,
Even in the debate you could tell they were avoiding Cruz.
Then after the debate all the pundits barely discussed him
Then Frank Luntz focus group, when asked about Cruz all hands when up in support, Luntz quickly went to next subject without letting them discuss why. Normally he will would dive in and ask why.
Fox gave Trump 1 hour plus of air time on Hannity to explain all his positions after the debate, Then discussed for another 2 hours. they have not done that for any other candidate.
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