Although U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz’s victory in the Iowa caucuses surprised many in the political world, the candidate’s father, pastor Rafael Cruz, tells WND there’s an easy explanation: His son, Ted, tapped one of America’s most powerful political forces – evangelical Christians.
“For many years, the church has been absent from the political process,” said Rafael Cruz. “Surveys that [Christian pollster] George Barna has done show that nearly half of all evangelicals don’t even vote. So when that happens, of course, you’re going to have a situation where too many people say, ‘Politics is a dirty business, I don’t want a part of it.’
“But if the people of principle don’t vote and don’t run for office,” he asked, “what is left? People without principle voting for people without principle, and we get what we deserve.”
Rafael Cruz is the author of a new book titled “A Time For Action: Empowering the Faithful To Reclaim America.” He told WND that “empowering the faithful” is precisely how his son defied the polls and pundits to win the first contest in the Republican primaries.
SPECIAL OFFER: Get an autographed copy of Rafael Cruz’s powerful new book, “A Time for Action: Empowering the Faithful to Reclaim America,” at a discounted price, from the WND Superstore.
“What I think is happening is the sleeping giant is waking up,” said Cruz. “What we are seeing are millions and millions of conservatives, of evangelicals, beginning to wake up. And I think the catalyst for that was the June 26, 2015, Supreme Court decision that tried to redefine marriage. Because it was much more than that; it was a direct frontal attack on religious liberty.”
In that 5-4 decision, which the dissenting justices described as utterly unconnected to the Constitution, the court mandated redefinition, acceptance and endorsement of same-sex marriage across the nation. Multiple movements have already taken shape to resist the court’s controversial edict, and at least one Christian county clerk has gone to jail over the issue. Rafael Cruz believes the court’s de facto attack on religious freedom is spurring a higher percentage of Christians to vote this year.
Thus there was record turnout in the Iowa GOP caucuses this year, a development many pundits speculated beforehand would help Donald Trump. However, Cruz was able to emerge victorious after decisively winning evangelical voters. According to entrance polls, Cruz appealed strongly to the sizable number of voters that considered a candidate’s “sharing my values” as the most important quality they sought.
It was vindication for the elder Cruz, who only last week told viewers on Fox News to “vote for people who reflect our values.”
Rafael Cruz, himself a pastor, credited the active involvement of Christian religious leaders as a critical factor in Cruz’s winning coalition.
“Pastors are realizing that they cannot continue to hide behind the pulpit,” he said. “Just in Iowa, we had 163 pastors in our pastors’ coalition. We have well over 500 nationwide.”
And Cruz believes he can convince even more to accept what he argues is an American tradition of political involvement by Christian religious leaders.
“When I speak to pastors, I speak to them both from a biblical standpoint and from a historical standpoint,” he explained. “You know the American Revolution was fought by pastors. The Declaration of Independence. All those grievances against King George had been preached in the churches for ten years before they were written in the Declaration. Pastors were at the forefront of the American Revolution.
“How can we be salt and light if we are hiding behind the pulpit and just hiding behind the four walls of a church? The church should be salt and light in every area of society. And, finally, I think pastors are starting to wake up to that realization.
“The Body of Christ is waking up, and they are coalescing around my son.”
Of course, some doubts remain as to Cruz’s ability to win enough states, as winning the Iowa caucuses is not proof of a candidate’s national appeal. Rick Santorum and Mike Huckabee both failed to secure the GOP nomination after their Iowa victories in 2012 and 2008 respectively.
Polls also indicate Trump still has a sizable lead in New Hampshire, where there is a relatively smaller percentage of evangelical Christians and Cruz only has until Feb. 9 to catch up. Trump is also expected to receive the endorsement of former Sen. Scott Brown on Tuesday, a popular figure among New England Republicans.
SPECIAL OFFER: Get an autographed copy of Rafael Cruz’s powerful new book, “A Time for Action: Empowering the Faithful to Reclaim America,” at a discounted price, from the WND Superstore.
But Rafael Cruz dismisses concerns that his son’s candidacy has already peaked.
“I think that we will do very well in New Hampshire,” he said. “We will do extremely well in South Carolina. And then after that, we have the March 1 ‘Super Tuesday.’ The majority of those states are Southern states, strong evangelical states; that’s the Bible Belt. We expect to do very well in those states.”
Rafael Cruz had the same optimism during the voting in Iowa.
“I really was very optimistic,” he said. “And even from the early returns, Ted was always ahead. It was exhilarating. I was able to speak at a caucus where several precincts had joined together. There were over 2,000 people there. And the response to my three-minute speech was tremendously positive. So it was very, very encouraging.”
Rafael Cruz, who chronicles his remarkable life story in “A Time For Action,” said the experience of standing on stage after his son’s victory was wonderful.
“When I think that 58 years ago I came to America with nothing, couldn’t speak practically a word of English, and to see my son not just a U.S. senator but potentially the next president of the United States, I can’t contain the tears from my eyes,” he said. “And all that comes to my mind is: Only in America. Only in America! Where else can that happen within one generation? It is just exciting about the greatness of America.”
Rafael Cruz also acknowledged that his son’s popularity comes from his outsider status. So even though Ted Cruz has, as yet, been somewhat lacking in endorsements from his fellow Republican elected officials, the elder Cruz believes that’s simply an inevitable result of his son’s principled stance.
“We have had too many corrupt career politicians in both parties,” Rafael Cruz argued. “This is what my son calls the Washington Cartel. Too many politicians making backroom deals, which in essence all they are doing is at the expense of the American people. They don’t have the concern of the American people in mind. They only have their own career interest. And people are sick and tired of this corruption in Washington in both parties. My son has been fighting this corruption forever.
“You hear ‘people don’t like him.’ They don’t like him because they want to continue the status quo. They want to continue the gravy train. And they don’t like that he stands for truth, for limited government, the rule of law and separation of powers. And those who want to continue things as they are don’t like somebody calling them out.”
But one thing is certain: The voters of Iowa like Ted Cruz.
SPECIAL OFFER: Get an autographed copy of Rafael Cruz’s powerful new book, “A Time for Action: Empowering the Faithful to Reclaim America,” at a discounted price, from the WND Superstore.
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