March 29, 2024

Trio of GOP prospects urge midterm turnout in Iowa

DES MOINES — A trio of Republican presidential prospects implored conservatives Saturday to vote in November’s midterm elections while doing their best to impress likely caucus goers should they compete for the GOP presidential nomination in a year and a half.

U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz, Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal and U.S. Rep. Paul Ryan of Wisconsin — a surprise addition to the program — took different tones in their remarks to the roughly 750 people at the Iowa Faith and Freedom’s annual fall banquet at the Iowa State Fairgrounds.

The three declared the Obama administration a failure in domestic and foreign policy. But Cruz’s message was more aimed at undoing the Democratic administration’s agenda than proposing a new way.

Cruz railed against the administration’s 2010 health care law and proposals to grant legal status to millions of people in the country illegally. A GOP majority would restore diminished U.S. leadership abroad and constitutional liberties, he said.