Sen. Ted Cruz’s campaign for president has featured strong references to faith and Christianity, which he says will help restore the country to greatness.

The Texas senator and son of a Carrollton pastor is sticking to religion, even in New Hampshire. The voting population there is heavy with libertarians and is not as influenced by evangelicals as the small towns in Iowa, where Cruz has had success in the polls.

“For too long there has been a spirit of fear and timidity in Washington,” Cruz told The Dallas Morning News on the second day of his New Hampshire tour. “We should not be ashamed of Christ. We should be willing to speak the truth with a smile.”

Cruz said the nation must return to its Judeo-Christian roots.

“Pulling this country back from the cliff we’re facing will require us remembering who we are, rediscovering those values that built America in the first place,” he said.

That has been Cruz’s mantra for months, and along the way he’s climbed in the polls for what’s fast becoming a two-way race with New York businessman Donald Trump.

In New Hampshire, he trails Trump by a wide margin. And though it’s not critical for Cruz to win the Granite State, doing well could give him a boost toward the GOP nomination.

Cruz’s message has largely been the same during the campaign, but the issues facing New Hampshire have prompted him to connect with voters in different ways.

During a stop in Keene, for instance, he talked about the substance abuse problem that killed his older sister, Miriam.

All day Monday, Cruz was asked about Trump, his admirer-turned-campaign nemesis.

During an appearance on Fox News, Trump called Cruz unlikable, saying, “Everybody hates Ted.”

Cruz fired back, sort of, saying voters would have the final opinion.

“Donald seems to be a little rattled. For whatever reason, he’s very dismayed. As conservatives continue to unite behind our campaign, as his poll numbers continue to go down, he’s a little testy,” Cruz said during a stop in Washington, N.H. “I have no intention in responding in kind. If he wants to engage in insults, that’s his prerogative.”

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SOURCE: The Dallas Morning News

Gromer Jeffers Jr.