Cruz's northern Indiana swing takes aim at detractors
FORT WAYNE — Traveling to the cradle of conservatism in northern Indiana, U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz got more aggressive in his ground game Thursday, lashing out against detractors and seeking to set himself apart from his Republican opponents.
He also campaigned alongside Carly Fiorina, who he named as his running mate in an unusual announcement Wednesday. Although criticized by political analysts as a last-ditch effort to boost his campaign, Cruz’s supporters at stops in Fort Wayne, Elkhart and South Bend lauded the choice as a “perfect match.”
Before a morning rally in Fort Wayne, Cruz hit back against John Boehner, saying the former House speaker “allowed his inner Trump to come out” when he described Cruz as “Lucifer in the flesh.”
Boehner had sharp words for Cruz when speaking at Stanford University on Wednesday telling the audience “…I have never worked with a more miserable son of a (expletive) in my life,” according to the college’s newspaper “The Stanford Daily.”
But on Thursday, Cruz said “I’ve never worked with the guy” and that Boehner’s comments reveal “everything that is wrong with Washington.”
“When he says that I’m the worst guy he’s ever worked with, he’s never worked with me,” Cruz told reporters.
Cruz also worked to draw parallels between Boehner and Trump. He referenced the former speaker’s other comments when he said that he and Trump were “texting buddies” and that they had played golf together, according to the Stanford newspaper.
“If you want a president like John Boehner,” Cruz said, “then Donald Trump’s your man.”
The back-and-forth comes as Cruz, a Texas senator, is facing a showdown with Trump, a billionaire real estate mogul, in Indiana’s May 3 primary.
To distance himself from their third-place opponent, Ohio Gov. John Kasich, Cruz quickly drew a line Thursday on the deal he struck with Kasich to try to block Trump in Indiana.
"There is no alliance," Cruz said.
Kasich agreed not to campaign in Indiana, and Cruz would stay out of New Mexico and Oregon. But rather than a partnership – Trump has dismissed it as “collusion” – Cruz cast it Thursday as decisions by the campaigns to focus their resources.
During the rally, he told supporters, “John Kasich is a good and honorable man, but he has no path to winning.”
Kasich has “pulled out from the state of Indiana,” Cruz said as he framed himself as the only candidate who could defeat Trump, asking Hoosier voters to “unify and stand as one with us.”
It is perhaps only the latest sign that the strategy may not be working as intended.
Moments after Cruz said it wasn't an alliance, Kasich strategist John Weaver tweeted vaguely, "I can't stand liars," but later warned people not to "jump to conclusions" about what he meant.
Cruz had initially called the announcement "big news" while Kasich told reporters it wasn't a "big deal."
It’s unclear if the partnership will work to deny Trump delegates. Cruz and Fiorina have no plans for campaign stops in New Mexico or Oregon. But neither Cruz nor Kasich has expressly told their supporters to vote for the other candidate.
Still, Cruz faces a challenge if he wants to draw votes away from Kasich. Cruz has been courting evangelicals, a key voting bloc, with his campaign and its backers continuing to pound away on social issues in Indiana.
But that could serve to alienate him from Kasich’s moderate backers, whose support he may also need to top Trump.
Cruz’s campaign offered up interviews Thursday with influential national evangelical leaders who are backing Cruz, including Focus on the Family founder James Dobson and Tony Perkins of the Family Research Council.
Meanwhile, National Right to Life launched $70,000 in radio ads supporting Cruz.
“Unborn babies can’t vote,” the ad says, “but you can.”
A Fox News poll last week showed white evangelical voters in Indiana were nearly evenly divided between Cruz and Trump.
Brian Eason contributed to this story. Call Star reporter Stephanie Wang at 9317) 444-6184.