Posted on 08/02/2015 9:20:52 AM PDT by 2ndDivisionVet
Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) will spend much of August on an eight-state “Cruz Country” bus tour through the South, as his team looks beyond the first four 2016 states to March’s delegate-heavy SEC Primary states, including Georgia and Texas.
Cruz advisers say they’re not only vigorously competing in the early states, but already organizing the so-called SEC states (a nickname from college sports’ Southeastern Conference), with advertising planned through March 15.
An adviser said the objective of the bus trip is “to ensure that by the time other candidates get to the March 1 voting states following early state voting, Ted Cruz will have his support shored up, energized, organized, and ready to compete and expand.”
The tour will stop in South Carolina, Georgia, Alabama, Tennessee, Mississippi, Arkansas, Oklahoma and Texas.
“The clear message is that as a Texan, Ted Cruz is paying attention to the region and will demonstrate his commitment to gain their support long before anyone else gets there,” the adviser added.
“The Cruz campaign believes that Bush, Walker and Rubio have made a flawed political calculation to compete in the establishment bracket and, therefore, position themselves as moderates in the race, leaving Cruz as the only well-funded conservative candidate.”
The Cruz adviser continued with a football analogy: “Cruz could run to the left — and face Bush, Walker, and Rubio — or run to the right, and face Carson, Huckabee, Santorum, and Jindal.
“As the best organized and funded candidate in the conservative lane (he raised more hard dollars that any other candidate including Bush), after the early states, Cruz can quickly consolidate conservative support and go head-to-head with whoever emerges as the choice of the establishment.”
Here are the opening-week stops of the bus tour, with Texas events planned for later in August:
— Friday, Aug. 7: 1:00 pm – Charleston, SC … 5:30 pm – Savannah, GA … 8:00 pm – Oglethorpe, GA
— Saturday, Aug. 8: 11:30 am – Atlanta (Red State Gathering) … 4:00 pm – Newnan, GA … 7:30 pm – Midland, GA
— Sunday, Aug. 9: 11 am – Birmingham, AL … 2:00 pm – Pelham, AL … 6:30 pm – Huntsville, AL
— Monday, Aug. 10: 11:15 am – Murfeesboro, TN … 1:30 pm – Brentwood, TN … 6:30 pm – Jackson, TN
— Tuesday, Aug. 11: 9:00 am – Tupelo, MS … 12 pm – Olive Branch, MS … 2:30 pm – Memphis
— Wednesday, Aug. 12: 11:30 am – Little Rock, AR. … 2:30 pm – Russellville, AR … 6:30 pm – Van Buren, AR
— Thursday, Aug. 13: 12:00 pm – Oklahoma City … 4:00 pm – Bartlesville, OK (event with Rep. Jim Bridenstine) … 7:00 pm – Tulsa, OK.
Go north, young man, go north. :)
He’s speaking at the Mackinac center in September and Wendy Day says that they’re looking at a tour of the midwest in coming months.
Rafael Cruz just spent 4 days here in Michigan.
He probably won’t do great in NH no matter how much time he spends there.
It’s unfortunate we begin the slog in two 2012 Obama states.
Really wish there was a premise that the first 10 have to be in states that voted for the party nominee in the last general election.
Cruz’s dad was touring Michigan last week. I’ve probably seen more activity from the Cruz campaign than the others here, although Kasich and Walker have also been active.
In PA the Senator won’t wow the city folks, but he would do well in rural areas where conservatism is alive and well.
I've been to one or two in the past. It's the biggest Republican event in the state, but not cheap. $100 just to get a credential and the Grand Hotel breakfasts/lunches/dinners where the biggest names will be speaking cost extra. That's where Cruz will be. Add in lodging costs (although Mackinaw City off the island is reasonable).
I haven't decided if I'm going up this year or not. I can stay in Roscommon for free, but that's still 90 minutes one way plus the ferry.
Volunteers for some campaigns can get in for free however so whomever is really interested in going, I recommend contacting a campaign and get on a (good) team there.
I live in the 2nd bluest county in my state (Washtenaw aka Ann Arbor), and even here, my swingish township voted for Walberg and Romney over the dems. Santorum won it in 2012 over Romney in the primary. New Hampshire voted Buchanan over Bush. Iowa voted Santorum over Romney. I think Cruz can win Iowa if Huckabee the liberal doesn't fool enough conservatives with his God talk.
It’s not a Ted Cruz bus.
It’s a bus line in Peru.
Sounds about right. Also, as generally in the Northeast: the farther West he goes the better off he’ll probably be.
I could live with the early NH primary—if it were a closed primary. But they not only let Democrats switch to vote, they also let busloads of college kids from MA come up and declare that they’re thinking of moving to NH, so they can register and vote right there on the spot.
As long as Hillary is basically unopposed in the D primary, I see a lot of Dems voting for Bush in Op Chaos 2016.
He doesn’t have to go as far North as NH, but a stop or two in PA would be nice for us PA FReepers.
Agreed on the “Go North, young man, go North”. I wish he would come to Allentown, PA. That’s only about a 30 mile drive for me.
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