The race for first place in Iowa’s Republican caucuses appears to be shaping into a two-man sprint between businessman Donald Trump and Texas Sen. Ted Cruz, setting up a showdown before the nation’s first presidential contest on Monday.
“This has now become a binary decision,” Iowa Rep. Steve King, who has endorsed Cruz, told a gathering of Cruz supporters Tuesday. “Either you’re for Trump, or your vote needs to be Cruz.”
Until recently, Cruz and Trump spent most of campaign season amiably in the race, but the two have become increasingly critical of each other. Trump has called Cruz “a nasty guy” and Cruz questioned Trump’s ability to serve in office after the billionaire businessman dropped out of this week’s presidential debate over a scuffle with Fox News.
Trump and Cruz have campaigned on the same side of most issues, so for many caucus-goers, their choice comes down to personality.
For many Cruz supporters who spoke to CNN, Trump is too much of a “showman,” who they fear lacks the skills to follow through on his promises if elected. And despite Trump’s recent rhetoric about embracing religion, some Christians here struggle to see how Trump’s past works match his professions of faith.
“I don’t want Trump,” said Karen Henderson, who attended a Cruz rally here with friends from her church. “He’s too vocal and I don’t like his morals.”
Trump supporters, meanwhile, see Trump’s flamboyant style and straight-forward speaking approach — even if it’s offensive to some- — as just what the country needs.
“People like Trump because he just shoots straight from the hip. Sometimes he goes a little overboard, but I think it’s refreshing,” said Trump supporter Janel Lageschulty. “I think people are sick to death of the same old, same old.”
Ricki Eibs Tuttle, a Trump supporter who waited in line for more than 45 minutes in freezing temperatures to see Trump in Marshalltown Tuesday, said that Cruz hasn’t shown the same level of fortitude as Trump.
“I just don’t think he’s got the backbone,” Eibs Tuttle said. “I just don’t think Cruz has got enough backbone to be forceful enough to say, ‘Hey, this is the way it’s going to have to be.'”
Others, meanwhile, say they’ll support either man in the general election, but still feel conflicted.
Said Dave Tyree, a pastor from Sheraton: “Nobody in Iowa really wants Donald Trump for president. But…everyone in Iowa wants someone just exactly like Donald Trump for president.”