Three of the four sides of the Republican Party are combining into one powerful group — conservatives — Ted Cruz says seizing that combined group is the key to securing the GOP presidential nomination next summer.
"The players that were expected to be formidable in those lanes have not got the traction they had hoped," the Texas Senator told
Politico in an exclusive interview. "The most encouraging thing I would say is that I think three of the lanes are collapsing into one...the evangelical lane, the conservative tea party lane, and the libertarian lane are all collapsing into the conservative lane and we're seeing those lanes unify behind our campaign."
It's a strategy that seems to be paying off. Cruz has the most money in his campaign coffers, at a time when Jeb Bush is slashing his payroll, and Scott Walker, one of his main rivals for the conservative vote, has left the race.
As a result, even people who would normally be against Cruz agree that he has a strong chance of being a finalist for the nomination.
"He's not to be underestimated," Fergus Cullen, a former chairman of the New Hampshire Republican Party, told Politico. "I think he stands a pretty good chance of cornering the right-wing vote, which is remarkable given how large the field is."
He is focusing his energy on the March 1 SEC primary and its string of conservative and evangelical states in hopes of winning his home state of Texas, along with Georgia, Alabama, Tennessee, Arkansas, and Oklahoma.
But as far as Iowa or New Hampshire, Cruz said that this year's election is different, and the days are past when a candidate could take those states and "ride the momentum to having a shot at the nomination, as the Republican National Committee has "dramatically accelerated the process."
However, Donald Trump has drawn away from all of the political "lanes" Cruz has drawn up, and Ben Carson is seizing the evangelical votes. The Cruz campaign expects Trump to remain a force to fight, but believes Carson will start to fade.
Cruz is also courting several social-conservative leaders, like Family Research Council head Tony Perkins, who is to appear with him next month in South Carolina. His campaign also expects Iowa Rep. Steve King to support him, as King's son works for Cruz' super PAC.
Meanwhile, Cruz said there is no way he could run as a moderate, and he is pushing a hard-right campaign stressing stances on gay marriage, abortion, immigration and more. With Jeb Bush's campaign fading, though, Cruz said he has no idea who will end up representing that side of the party, but he believes it will be the conservatives, not the establishment that will win the race.
Sandy Fitzgerald ✉
Sandy Fitzgerald has more than three decades in journalism and serves as a general assignment writer for Newsmax covering news, media, and politics.
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