Ted Cruz Is Desperate ... And He's Pissing Off The Iowa GOP

Ted Cruz has been looking and acting desperate in the final days before the Iowa caucus; in fact, he’s in a downright panic that he might lose to Donald [t]Rump.

He had been on a bit of a high in recent weeks, gaining on [t]Rump in some polls while surpassing him in others, but after last week’s [t]Rump-less GOP debate, Cruz, who could have used the opportunity to seize the lead, stumbled badly and now he’s resorting to these kinds of tactics …

In his desperation to win, possibly at all costs, including whatever shred of dignity or honesty that even he thought he possessed, Cruz and his team decided to outright lie and shame voters into showing up for him.

The campaign sent out a mailer, printed on yellow paper as though it was some kind of official ticket, with the headline “VOTING VIOLATION” followed by the names of the homeowners to whom it was sent and their neighbors, along with the following instructions:

“You are receiving this election notice because of low expected voter turnout in your area. Your individual voting history as well as your neighbors’ are public record. Their scores are published below, and many of them will see your score as well. Caucus on Monday to improve your score and please encourage your neighbors to caucus as well. A follow-up notice may be issued following Monday’s caucuses.”

Yes, Ted Cruz is lying, and trying to frighten voters into voting — probably for him — by threatening to make them look bad in front of their community. But, as liars are apt to do, Cruz tried to keep his hands clean by having his name printed in tiny print at the top of the envelope, and nowhere on the ticket at all.

But one person who saw the small print, and knew what was happening, is speaking out; and that person is Iowa’s Republican secretary of state, Paul Pate, who released a statement  rebuking Cruz’s campaign pulling a stunt like this. And Paul Pate has a personal interest in calling out Cruz for his antics; the Cruz campaign named Pate’s own office in the mailer, implying that it was from the state government:

“Today I was shown a piece of literature from the Cruz for President campaign that misrepresents the role of my office, and worse, misrepresents Iowa election law. Accusing citizens of Iowa of a ‘voting violation’ based on Iowa Caucus participation, or lack thereof, is false representation of an official act. There is no such thing as an election violation related to frequency of voting. Any insinuation or statement to the contrary is wrong and I believe it is not in keeping in the spirit of the Iowa Caucuses.”

But are we surprised? I mean, that’s been Ted Cruz in politics all along: lying, manipulating facts, denying things he’s done — he still says it was Obama who shut down the government, except when he’s out there taking credit for it … and threatening to do it again.

Seriously, Iowa, you don’t need this; no one does. Head out to the caucus and send a very clear message that Ted Cruz’s antics aren’t what we need in Washington; if you think all politicians lie, manipulate, mask the facts, then remember that Ted Cruz just tried to do all of that to you … to get himself a win.

And how does Ted Cruz feel about this shameless “Voting Violation” ploy:

"I will apologize to no one for using every tool we can to encourage Iowa voters to come out and vote."

Every tool: lies, deceit, threats. That’s so presidential.

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Mother Jones