Surging in poll, Ted Cruz brings presidential campaign to Huntsville (after debate poll)

[Formerly Once-Ler]

http://www.al.com/news/huntsville/index.ssf/2015/08/surging_in_poll_ted_cruz_bring.html

Greeted by a crowd exceeding expectations in Huntsville, Republican presidential hopeful Ted Cruz rolled into the Rocket City on Sunday evening as an apparent candidate on the rise.

In an NBC News post-debate poll released Sunday, Cruz rose to No. 2 among the 17 GOP candidates – an indication, the junior senator from Texas said, that his campaign is resonating with voters.

"God bless the great state of Alabama," Cruz said in greeting a crowd estimated by local Republican officials as more than 1,000 in the Jackson Center in Cummings Research Park. "Holy cow! I think we've got the whole state of Alabama in here."

Indeed, all but a handful of chairs were removed from the ballroom where Cruz spoke to accommodate the crowd – the vast majority of which stood for the hour that Cruz spoke and took questions from the audience.

Cruz made stops in Pelham and Birmingham earlier Sunday as part of a Deep South swing that will take him on Monday to four stops in Tennessee followed by speeches in Mississippi, Arkansas and Oklahoma by week's end.
GOP Presidential Hopeful Ted Cruz 8.9.15 GOP presidential hopeful Ted Cruz discusses rising to No. 2 in a post-debate NBC News poll during stop in Huntsville, Alabama on 8.9.15.

U.S. Rep. Mo Brooks, R-Huntsville, introduced Cruz and told the audience that the Cruz campaign was hoping for about 400 to 500 people to attend the rally. Instead, Brooks said the campaign received more than 1,400 RSVPs.

The crowd snacked on campaign-provided ice cream before the speech, then squeezed into the ballroom waving signs and cheering virtually every statement Cruz made.

He reiterated staples of recent campaign speeches – outlining his plan for his first day as president by, among other things, undoing all "illegal executive orders" by President Obama, calling for an investigation into Planned Parenthood and dismantling the IRS.

Cruz touted his fundraising as well, saying that at $14 million, he raised more than any other GOP candidate in the last quarter.

He also took shots at Democrats Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders, joking about the planned Democratic debate that hasn't happened yet.

"The invitation was emailed to Hillary," Cruz said.

A chorus of laughter followed.
Online, our fundraising exploded after the debate.

"Listen, if you think Washington is doing great, that we're heading in the right direction and we just need someone to fiddle around the edges, then I ain't your guy," Cruz said. "If you think Washington is fundamentally broken, that there are career politicians in both parties who aren't listening to the American people..."

His voice then became drowned out as cheers and applause came as the response.

The NBC News poll released Sunday gave at least a snapshot of growing support for Cruz in wake of Thursday's GOP debate in Cleveland.

According to the poll, Donald Trump remains the frontrunner with 23 percent of Republican voters giving him their support. Cruz was second with 13 percent – rising from the crowded GOP field with the Republican National Convention 11 months away.

Ben Carson was third with 11 percent, followed by Carly Fiorina and Marco Rubio with 8 percent each.

Cruz also had the largest percentage jump from last week at 7 percent, according to the poll.

"We're certainly encouraged by NBC's new polling numbers," Cruz said when asked by AL.com for his reaction to the poll before his speech. "That surge is, I think, the result of men and women across this country who are looking for a strong, proven, consistent conservative. Online, our fundraising exploded after the debate. We saw people all over the country going to TedCruz.org contributing online.

"It's been amazing in just over four months, we've had over 225,000 contributions (at the website). It's been from all 50 states, all five territories. Our average contribution has been $68. We have contributors in 48.1 of the ZIP codes in America have one or more contributors to our campaign. The strength of this campaign is that it comes from the grassroots. It comes from the people. That's what this campaign is. I could not be more encouraged."

Here is the poll

http://www.pdf.investintech.com/preview/33f7458c-3ec9-11e5-9555-002590d31986/index.html

[Carling]

Good news!  He did well in that farce of a debate.

Fiorina is now polling 4th at 8%, too.

[alicewonders]

Good news!  He did well in that farce of a debate.

Fiorina is now polling 4th at 8%, too.

I thought Cruz did the best in the second debate - the few times he was given a chance to talk.

[Formerly Once-Ler]

Good news!  He did well in that farce of a debate.

Fiorina is now polling 4th at 8%, too.

Take the survey with a grain of salt.  It's an internet Survey Monkey poll.  I've never heard of them before.  This could be their first poll with NBC.

[libertybele]

Take the survey with a grain of salt.  It's an internet Survey Monkey poll.  I've never heard of them before.  This could be their first poll with NBC.

Monkey Survey is pretty common; usually conducted by a specific group and I'm sure polls reported by media groups would show different numbers.  What most polls have reflected is the controversy over Trump, the spar between Chrisite and Paul which dropped their numbers, the rise of Cruz despite him being ignored during the debates and Fiorina now has recognition -- numbers vary from poll to poll. I have not seen any poll that shows Bush gained any ground ... but I'm sure if I looked hard enough I'd find one.

I take issue with debates as the moderators obviously have the ability and often do ask questions to benefit their "favorite".  Cruz was pretty much avoided during the FOX debate, yet according to several polls he benefited.  With the internet at the fingertips of most Americans I wish they would research a candidate's voting record and past performance to see where they truly stand on the issues rather than basing their opinion solely on the debates; failure to do so is why Obama get elected in the first place.  His record as a Senator was far more accurate as to how he would perform as a president rather than the false claims he spewed during the debates.

[aligncare]

Ted Cruz and Donald Trump have said roughly the same thing about illegal immigration. Only Cruz presents his argument in an intelligent and coherent manner, relying on a constitutional rationale to dispute the status quo. I'm praying for Ted Cruz and Carly Fiorina to break through the noise and clutter of the early race.

[MBB1984]

Cruz is the brightest candidate the GOP has had in years, maybe ever. The debate rarely gave him a chance to demonstrate his considerable debating abilities.  I hope and pray the new poll gives Cruz momentum and attention that he deserves.