Getting religious conservatives’ votes — and more
By Jennifer Rubin September 29 at 10:30 AM
The straw poll at the Values Voter Summit is hardly representative of the Republican electorate as a whole. But it does reflect the outlook of a certain segment of highly engaged evangelical voters, who do play a key role in several early primary states. It is therefore noteworthy that at the Christian conservative confab this weekend, Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Tex.) won with 25 percent, substantially less than the 42 percent he won last time, but above novice politician Dr. Ben Carson, who took in 2o percent. They were followed by former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee at 12 percent and Rick Santorum at 10 percent. Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal and Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) wound up with 7 percent.
Considering how arduously Paul has been courting Christian conservatives (trying to demonstrate his pro-Israel credentials, sticking to his definition of traditional marriage, etc.) this will be widely seen as a thumbs down on his efforts. (His bizarre obsession with eliminating foreign aid was not a winner with this crowd, and suggests he is at heart simply another extreme libertarian.) That in turn raises the question as to where his voters are going to come from if neither moderates nor religious conservatives strongly back him. One can see why he is so desperate to recruit college students, minorities and other voters outside the party; without them registering and voting in strong numbers, his chance to better his father’s showings in presidential races remains iffy.
Cruz, on the other hand, certainly has the values voters’ affection, but he will not occupy that entire space in early primaries if Huckabee, Jindal and Texas Gov. Rick Perry run as well. Perhaps to an even greater degree than Rand Paul, his candidacy, largely due to his red-hot rhetoric and leadership in last year’s government shutdown, he has become toxic with moderates, pro-business interests and most big-time donors. He also has turned off some hawks with equivocation over the Islamic State. (Note the contrast between his refusal to lay out a game plan and Speaker of the House John Boehner (Ohio), who declared, “[S]omebody’s boots have to be there. . . . We have no choice. These are barbarians. They intend to kill us. And if we don’t destroy them first, we’re gonna pay the price.” Now there is mature and candid leadership.
Cruz would do well to expand his appeal in several respects. Even if he got the entirety of the religious right — which seems improbable — he will need to win over others in the GOP and demonstrate he is a credible commander in chief and chief executive.
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