Less than 24 hours before the Iowa caucuses, Ted Cruz’ team is in full damage control mode over a mailer that went out to several Republican voters this week. It’s a ham-handed attempt to shame them into caucusing by making it appear they broke the law by failing to turn out in past elections.
Earlier this week, Tom Hinkeldey of Alta, near Storm Lake in northwestern Iowa, found a mailer from the Cruz team addressed to his wife, Steffany. The words “VOTING VIOLATION” were printed in red atop the mailer, along with this ominous-sounding notice:
“You are receiving this election notice because of low expected voter turnout in your area. Your individual voting history as well as your neighbors’ are public record. Their scores are published below, and many of them will see your score as well. CAUCUS ON MONDAY TO IMPROVE YOUR SCORE and please encourage your neighbors to caucus as well. A follow-up notice may be issued following Monday’s caucuses.”
The mailer then listed both Tom and Steffany’s names, along with those of several of their neighbors along with their supposed voting histories. Tom Hinkeldey was so outraged by this stunt that he trolled Cruz on Twitter with a picture of the mailer and a notice that he was indeed going to caucus–for Marco Rubio. He deleted the tweet after discovering that it included his personal address, but let it be known that the mailer pushed him from leaning toward Rubio to firm support for Rubio.
@rumpfshaker I already disliked Cruz and liked Rubio, that mailer took me over the edge finally. Monday night at 7 pm!
— Tom Hinkeldey (@TomAhink) January 30, 2016
Cruz and his team were slammed up, down, and sideways on all sides of the spectrum for this mailer. Even Donald Trump was outraged.
The Cruz campaign issued a dishonest and deceptive get out the vote ad calling voters "in violation." They are now under investigation. Bad!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 31, 2016
You know you’ve stepped in it when something goes too far even for Trump.
Steve Deace, a prominent right-wing talk show host in Iowa and a staunch Cruz backer, initially claimed the mailers were a hoax. When the evidence of their existence became undeniable, however, Deace thought it was much ado about nothing.
Watching the same people not outraged when Cruz was called a fake Christian now pretend to be outraged by a mailer is, well, horse puckey.
— Steve Deace (@SteveDeaceShow) January 30, 2016
Over 90% of the people who have asked or expressed outrage about these mailers to me today don't live in Iowa. I'm keeping track.
— Steve Deace (@SteveDeaceShow) January 30, 2016
Um, Steve? This isn’t “horse puckey.” This borders on an invasion of privacy. And people outside of Iowa have every right to be outraged over this. This sort of thing is not acceptable, regardless of partisan affiliation. After all, MoveOn did something similar to this in 2012 for Barack Obama, and was deservedly condemned.
Late Saturday, Iowa secretary of state Paul Pate, the state’s top election official, issued a statement condemning the mailers.
That hasn’t dissuaded the Cruz team from doubling down on the decision to send these mailers. Cruz spokeswoman Catherine Frazier said that this type of mailer was frequently used by the state GOP to “help motivate low-propensity voters.” Cruz himself told reporters in Sioux City that there is nothing wrong with “using every tool we can” to get as many voters to caucus for him, especially since “our country’s in crisis.”
Frankly, this tactic is almost as outrageous as Trump’s decision to plaster a private cell phone number on social media. It raises very serious questions about whether Cruz is morally fit to be president. When the two Republican frontrunners are guys who may not be morally fit for office, it says a lot about the GOP in its present state–and it isn’t good.
