Chad’s Morning Brief: Ted Cruz Rises in Iowa As Donald Trump Attacks

One poll has Ted Cruz with a 10-point lead in Iowa. The Chad Hasty Show airs 8:30-11am on 790AM KFYO.

Cruz Rising

According to Bloomberg, a new poll out of Iowa shows Senator Ted Cruz with a big lead over Donald Trump. The latest poll could be just the latest sign that the foundation and hard work of the Cruz campaign in Iowa is finally paying off.

Republican presidential candidate Ted Cruz has surged ahead to become the latest front-runner in the campaign for the Iowa caucuses, dislodging Ben Carson and opening an impressive lead over a stalled Donald Trump, a Bloomberg Politics/Des Moines Register Iowa Poll shows.

The firebrand junior senator from Texas is backed by 31 percent of those likely to attend the Republican caucuses that start the presidential nomination season on Feb. 1. Trump is a distant second at 21 percent, up slightly from 19 percent in October, but below his peak of 23 percent in August.

Cruz's 21-percentage-point jump since October is the largest surge between Iowa Polls recorded in at least the last five presidential caucus campaigns. When first and second choices are combined, he has the support of 51 percent of likely caucus-goers. The senator’s great leap forward comes largely at the expense of Carson, as Iowa’s evangelicals appear to have picked the candidate they want to get behind. The retired neurosurgeon, now barely in third-place, is supported by 13 percent, down from the first-place showing he posted in October, when he was at 28 percent.

The poll also shows that the Ben Carson campaign seems to be imploding pretty quickly. Tuesday night's debate will be huge for Cruz as he looks to continue his momentum into Christmas and the new year.

Trump Attacks Cruz

As expected, Donald Trump has decided to attack Ted Cruz as Cruz's numbers rise. According to the Texas Tribune, Trump's latest attack on Cruz was on FOX News where Trump called Cruz a "maniac".

In TV appearances Sunday morning, the billionaire left little doubt the detente is over, bluntly questioning the Texas senator's temperament to lead the nation and his ability to get along with others.

“I don’t think he’s qualified to be president because I don’t think he has the right temperament," Trump said in an interview on Fox News Sunday. "Well, you look at the way he’s dealt with the Senate, where he goes in there like a — you know, frankly, like a little bit of a maniac."

“You can't walk into the Senate and scream and call people liars and not be able to cajole and get along with people," Trump later added, apparently referring to Cruz's clash earlier this year with Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell. "He’ll never get anything done, and that’s the problem with Ted."

Trump also directly responded to the source of the new tension between the two candidates: a report Thursday that Cruz had raised questions about Trump's "judgment" at a fundraiser.

"I would say I have far better judgment than Ted," Trump said in an interview on CNN'sState of the Union, citing as examples his business success and opposition to the war in Iraq.

Cruz's campaign declined to comment on Trump's remarks Sunday morning.

Trump's widened criticism came two days after he launched his first attacks on Cruz, suggesting at a rally in Iowa that the senator is beholden to the oil industry. Cruz has not responded to the allegation, but Trump suggested a confrontation isn't far off.

“Look, I expect to get it on because I’m leading by a lot. I’m leading him by a lot," Trump said, later adding that he believes Cruz can only maintain his friendly posture for so long. "I think the time will come to an end pretty soon, it sounds like."

I don't expect Cruz to throw any major swings at Donald Trump anytime soon. Cruz's numbers have been rising without him taking shots at Trump. Let Trump throw the swings and keep doing what you have been doing would be my advice.