THE BIG IDEA:
-- Ted Cruz won the Iowa caucuses because evangelicals turned out in record numbers and broke his way in the final days. For the Texas senator to win in South Carolina, he’ll need that to happen again. But the Cruz campaign, full of bare-knuckled operatives who pride themselves on their take-no-prisoners approach to politics, might have poisoned the well.
In the hours before Monday’s vote, his campaign circulated rumors that Ben Carson was planning to drop out. This incensed the normally mild-mannered retired neurosurgeon, who had reacted with surprising equanimity in the face of Donald Trump’s vicious attacks last fall. His wife Candy was also visibly upset when she had to deny the rumor at a caucus site.
This is an example of what Cruz surrogates were saying Monday night as Iowans caucused:
More at link:
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/powerpost/paloma/daily-202/2016/02/03/daily-202-hard-feelings-complicate-ted-cruz-s-effort-to-consolidate-evangelical-support/56b13dc5981b92a22dedb3e6
