Ted Cruz was among the earliest to announce his presidential campaign and despite a series of high-profile exposes and the like, his campaign has been largely overshadowed by the success of others. Cruz has had trouble securing the "outsider" vote, considering the high poll numbers of Donald Trump and Ben Carson, and he has alienated the Republican establishment with his actions in Congress and controversial viewpoints. However, no one has ever doubted the shrewdness of Cruz's political machine. Having won a Senate seat in Texas with no previous elected governmental experience, Cruz has become a rising star through his passionate rhetoric, conservative values and refusal to acquiesce. His firebrand tactics have earned him fans in the Republican base, who feel that he is one of the only elected conservatives in the Senate willing to stand up to the party leadership. However, political "outsiders" like Donald Trump have largely stolen this reputation for shaking things up. Now, it appears that Cruz has regained the momentum he had at the beginning of the race, and is tapping into the political maverick role that has eluded him thus far. According to a Quinnipiac University poll of likely Republican caucus-goers, Ted Cruz has 23 percent support in Iowa, behind only Donald Trump.
According to The New York Times, "Campaign officials, assessing their momentum, have pointed to a strong field operation, diligent legwork with crucial groups like evangelicals and the support of local figures like Representative Steve King. They also concede their good fortune that the race has, to date, unfurled more or less as Mr. Cruz had hoped, with establishment Republicans failing to coalesce around a single candidate and other religious conservatives in the race failing to gain traction."
In Newton, Iowa on Sunday, Mr. Cruz told a giant crowd, "What Washington wants is conservatives divided. That's how the moderate establishment candidate runs up the middle with 23 percent of the vote, steals the nomination and then loses the general because millions of conservatives stay home."
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