WND EXCLUSIVE

FATHER: TED CRUZ'S SUCCESS DEPENDS ON PEOPLE OF FAITH

'We all have a responsibility to make our voices known and vote for people who reflect our values'

With the Iowa caucuses imminent, Sen. Ted Cruz is pulling out his secret weapon to appeal to people of faith – his father, Rafael Cruz, a dynamic pastor and author who has been campaigning on his son’s behalf.

The elder Cruz discussed his son’s potential weaknesses and strengths in an appearance on Fox News Channel’s “Fox and Friends.”

Author of the new book “A Time For Action: Empowering the Faithful To Reclaim America,” Cruz argues that his son can win the nomination and the general election because he can turn out evangelical voters who would otherwise stay home.

“I think the evangelical vote is critical,” the senior Cruz said. “When you look at what happened in the 2012 election, almost half of evangelicals did not vote. And if we have so many people of faith – and the same thing was true among Catholics, many Catholics did not vote – so if people of faith are not voting, it represents a great void in the political process. We all have a responsibility to make our voices known and vote for people who reflect our values.”

In recent days, front-runner Donald Trump has made sizable inroads into the evangelical vote, winning the endorsement of Jerry Falwell Jr. and leading among white evangelicals nationally in some polls.

However, Cruz reportedly has a significant advantage when it comes to turnout, as he has built a formidable organization in Iowa. More importantly, Cruz also has a double-digit lead among evangelicals in Iowa.

SPECIAL OFFER: Get an autographed copy of Rafael Cruz’s powerful new book, “A Time for Action: Empowering the Faithful to Reclaim America,” at a discounted price, from the WND Superstore.

So Rafael Cruz is optimistic.

“We are encouraged,” he said. “We have seen evangelicals coalesce around Ted.”

But Ted Cruz is facing growing challenges from Trump.

Fresh off of hosting a fundraiser for veterans instead of participating in the Republican debate Thursday, Trump called Cruz “an anchor baby in Canada” on Friday. Earlier, Trump accepted Cruz’s challenge for a one-on-one debate, but insisted Cruz first obtain a court ruling affirming that he is eligible to run for president under Section 1, Article 2 of the Constitution.

Several lawsuits, filed by Democrats, are challenging Cruz’s eligibility to be president.

Although constitutional scholars are split on whether or not Cruz is a “natural born citizen” as conceived by the framers of the Constitution, the issue has not ever been definitively adjudicated by the court system. It is undisputed that Ted Cruz was a U.S. citizen at the time of his Canadian birth due to his mother’s U.S. citizenship.

Although recent polling suggests as many as one-third of Republicans are unsure about Cruz’s eligibility, Rafael Cruz dismisses the issue as a “distraction.”

“The law is quite clear; it’s been so clear for a couple of centuries as a matter of fact,” the pastor said. “Anyone born of a U.S.-born citizen born anywhere in the world is a U.S. citizen by birth. And so this is just a distraction; we need to be talking about the substantive issues that are facing America today.”

However, Rafael dodged the question of why Ted gave up his Canadian citizenship only in 2014. The elder Cruz renounced his own Canadian citizenship in 2005.

Instead, Rafael Cruz pivoted back to what he considers the real issues of the campaign.

“I think that we need to get back to the fact that we need to restore America’s leadership in the world,” he said. “We need to stop the out-of-control debt. We need to stop the lawlessness that is going on in this administration. We need to get back to the Constitution, the rule of law, and limited government.

“And so I hope that we get back to the issues that really matter. And the question is who is best prepared to be commander in chief of the United States of America.”

The interview:

SPECIAL OFFER: Get an autographed copy of Rafael Cruz's powerful new book, "A Time for Action: Empowering the Faithful to Reclaim America," at a discounted price, from the WND Superstore.

Read more at http://www.wnd.com/2016/01/father-ted-cruzs-success-depends-on-people-of-faith/#8uGMcSF90W86bVwr.99