Prior to the important South Carolina primary Saturday comes news of a new poll showing that Texas Senator Ted Cruz is ahead nationally. It is encouraging, but those of us who believe Ted Cruz should be our next president must still do what we can to encourage everyone in South Carolina to go out and vote on Saturday for him.
According to a new NBC News-Wall Street Journal poll, Cruz is preferred by 28 percent of Republican primary voters, while Trump is favored by 26 percent. Marco Rubio is at 17 percent, John Kasich at 11 percent, Ben Carson at 10 percent and Jeb Bush at 4 percent.
Cruz has also announced he had endorsements from 300 pastors and faith leaders in the Palmetto state. That’s double the number of pastoral endorsements he had in Iowa, which helped him win that caucus.
I’m encouraged by Cruz’s support within the Christian community, signaled by these endorsements. Sadly, it seems Christians don’t get involved in the political process and often don’t even vote. Perhaps that’s beginning to change due the fact things are getting so bad in our nation, and we want a leader who shares our values.
We need to get as excited about Ted Cruz as those supporters of Socialist Democratic candidate Bernie Sanders or Republican candidate Donald Trump. As I’ve written before, I like some of what Trump says. But his past positions and lifestyle—and even his language—is anything but that of a Christ follower.
We have an opportunity to put a godly, principled conservative in office. Is it possible God is giving us another chance with a Ronald Reagan-type president?
Please post this on social media and email it to anyone you know in South Carolina. And don’t forget to pray!
There are other good Republican candidates I could support. But I decided to endorse Cruz because he is a strong believer. (Of course, Jimmy Carter was a Baptist Sunday School teacher, so that’s not the only criterion). If you have any doubts about where Cruz stands spiritually, watch this 18-minute documentary where he tells how he accepted Jesus as his Savior.
Recently I had the opportunity to interview Senator Cruz on why he wants to be President. I broke down the 30-minute interview into several Strang Report podcasts, which have had more downloads than any I’ve done. Here, you can listen to parts 1, 2, 3 and 4 of that interview.
Ted Cruz stands as a principled conservative. Here are his own words:
“First, my commitment to you:
- “I will always be a consistent conservative—both in word and deed. You will never have to worry about me caving to the Washington establishment.
- “I will always shoot straight with you. I will tell the truth. I will apologize when I make a mistake.
- “I will run an honorable campaign. I will discuss the difference between candidates, but I will not engage in personal negative attacks. And when I’m personally attacked, I will not respond in kind with vicious below-the-belt revenge attacks.
- “I will be a good steward of your support and financial investment in me. I want you to know your support is faithfully used.
- “I will work as hard as I can, make personal and professional sacrifices to win this campaign, and reignite liberty in our nation.
- “I don’t make these commitments lightly. They are my heartfelt vows to you.”
Cruz is not ashamed to be known as an evangelical Christian. In a recent mailing, he asked for a commitment from those supporting him, and I’ll close with his own words:
“To win this campaign, I’m going to need your commitment because I cannot do it alone.
“That’s why I hope you will make the following commitment to me:
- “Commit to pray. In the words of our Savior Jesus Christ, where two or more gather, He is there. And while I am blessed with an incredible prayer team, I hope I can count on your prayers as well.
- “Commit to vote. No matter which state you live in, your vote will have the power to help shape this country, and I hope you will commit to vote for me.
- “Commit to support this campaign.” {eoa}
Stephen Strang 
