Sen. Ted Cruz on Thursday moved to blunt Sen. Marco Rubio’s momentum in the race for the Republican presidential nomination, launching an aggressive first strike on immigration.
The Texan attacked Rubio for supporting the granting of a pathway to U.S. residency for illegal immigrants in his role as key negotiator of the bipartisan immigration overhaul that cleared the Senate two years ago. The broadside suggests that Cruz now views the Floridian as a distinct political threat to his White House ambitions. It also marked an escalation and possible strategic shift for Cruz, who had shied away from directly attacking his primary opponents.
“I’m confident that Sen. Cruz’s position is the winning position, and that if we nominate someone who is pro-amnesty, the Republicans will lose to Secretary [Hillary] Clinton,” Cruz campaign spokesman Rick Tyler said, in an interview with the Washington Examiner.
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“This election is going to be about the future,” countered Rubio spokesman Alex Conant. “Marco will win because he best understands the new challenges and opportunities of the 21st Century.”
“I’ll just refer you to Senator Cruz’s own statements and proposals giving legal status to illegal immigrants, and his spokesman apparently labeling that position as amnesty,” Conant added.
Cruz tweaked Rubio during a Thursday morning interview with conservative talk radio host Laura Ingraham. She opened the discussion by asking Cruz to comment on her view that Rubio is a recent convert to conservative immigration policy. “Talk is cheap,” responded Cruz, a high profile opponent of legal status for illegal immigrants, derided by some as “amnesty.” Cruz then recounted Rubio’s participation in the “gang of eight” Senate immigration talks, and of course, his staunch opposition.
Rubio and his campaign pushed back quickly, and didn’t let up, in an attempt to paint Cruz as inconsistent and undercut his credibility as an immigration hawk.
The senator said during a news conference in South Carolina that Cruz’s approach to immigration isn’t “dramatically different” from his. Rubio cited Cruz’s support for increasing the number of H1-B visas made available to foreign workers, and the Texan’s past proposal to offer work permits to illegal immigrants. Rubio’s team followed with a barrage of press releases, tweets and videos of Cruz expressing support for comprehensive reform back when the 2013 immigration bill was being considered.
Republican insiders see risks and rewards in Cruz’s apparent to ratchet up his competition with Rubio.
The upside is forcing one of his key competitors to play defense on an issue that is a top priority for base conservatives and has always held the possibility of becoming a political liability in his nomination bid. If Rubio stumbles, it could cause the broad community of big Republican donors considering Rubio hold off in joining his campaign, further neutralizing his rise ahead of first votes in Iowa, set for Feb. 1.
“It’s a smart play, said a Republican operative who is neutral in the race.
But Cruz’s actions also signal an acknowledgment that Rubio is blocking his path to the nomination. Cruz’s strategy relies on consolidating the votes of base conservatives behind his candidacy. But Rubio, despite being an attractive candidate to the so-called establishment wing of the party, hails from the Tea Party and stands to garner support from right wing of the party. Rubio’s strategy is built around being a consensus candidate acceptable to all GOP factions.
“Cruz understands that Rubio has his own nomination lane that cuts deeply into his own, which is why he’s now trying to define him as something other than a conservative,” said a second GOP operative who is neutral in the primary.
Cruz and Rubio are running third and fourth, respectively, in most public opinion polls gauging the sentiment of GOP voters nationally and in the important early primary states. Ben Carson and Donald Trump still pace the field, but Cruz and Rubio have separated from the rest of the pack, and many Republican insiders believe the nomination could ultimately come down to a head-to-head matchup of the two, 44 year-old Cuban Americans.
For now, at least, the Rubio campaign plans to stick with its plan to avoid antagonizing Republican competitors, but to respond furiously to attacks. That’s how Rubio handled previous criticism from former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush over his missing Senate votes to campaign for president, as well as the charges on immigration from Cruz on Thursday. Team Rubio appears pleased with how this approach has worked and remains wary of generating too much attention and peaking too soon.
The Cruz campaign also dreads peaking too soon.
Just on Tuesday, the senator passed up prime opportunities to challenge Rubio during the last televised debate until Dec. 15. As had been typical of Cruz, he raised the issue of sugar subsidies, another potential liability for Rubio, but did not criticize him directly or mention his name when he pitched eliminating the program. That’s what made Cruz’ direct engage with Rubio on immigration — less than 48 hour later — such a significant event in the 2016 competition.
“I think he was just simply trying to make his position on immigration clear and was not going to let anyone muddy it,” Tyler said.
