Why Bob Vander Plaats chose Cruz over Trump, Rubio, Carson

Ted Cruz nailed an endorsement from a well-known Christian conservative newsmaker Thursday, one more step toward locking up the influential evangelical conservative voting bloc in Iowa.

"At the end of the day, we truly believe that Ted Cruz is the most consistent and principled conservative who has the ability to not only win Iowa but I believe to win the (Republican) nomination," Bob Vander Plaats, the president of the Family Leader, told The Des Moines Register in an interview Wednesday.

It's a triumph for Cruz, a Texas U.S. senator whose stances on abortion, same-sex marriage, illegal immigration, religious liberty and foreign affairs align with the most hardline conservatives in Iowa — the voters who are expected to dominate the first-in-the-nation presidential vote on Feb. 1.

And it's a blow to the other candidates who auditioned for the endorsement, including Donald Trump, Ben Carson, Marco Rubio, Carly Fiorina, Rand Paul, Mike Huckabee, Rick Santorum and Lindsey Graham.

Jeb Bush and Chris Christie didn't court Vander Plaats, a controversial figure who is a lightning rod for criticism for his belief that conservative Christian ideology should be the driving force in government.

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In 2008, Vander Plaats spent a year stumping for Huckabee, a former governor of Arkansas, and at the last minute in 2012 backed Santorum, a former Pennsylvania U.S. senator. Both presidential candidates went on to win the caucuses.

Vander Plaats is a master of capturing media attention, drawing hundreds of political reporters to his multi-candidate presidential forums. National reporters regularly seek him out for quotes on the presidential race.

In the interview with the Register, Vander Plaats answered questions about why Trump, Carson and Rubio — the three with the most support in Iowa aside from Cruz — weren't selected:

NOT CARSON: Carson, a retired neurosurgeon, has a great personal success story, Vander Plaats said. So do Trump, a New York businessman and TV star, and Fiorina, a former tech company CEO, he added.

"But I think what's appealing about Ted Cruz is he still gives that 'outside' appearance. He has not been embraced by the Washington establishment community, on either side of the aisle. So he's still viewed as that outside candidate who really knows how this thing works and what needs to be changed."

NOT TRUMP: Asked if The Family Leader could have endorsed Trump in the midst of the latest firestorm about his opinions, this time his call to bar Muslims from entering the United States, Vander Plaats answered: "Mr. Trump, he was probably taken off our radar when he made the decision not to attend the forum."

Vander Plaats was referring to the Family Leader's Presidential Family Forum in late November.

"We weren't leaning toward him anyhow," he said. But they will "move on as friends."

NOT RUBIO: "I would label him as a conservative," Vander Plaats said of Rubio, a Florida U.S. senator.

"However, I do believe the one issue he decided he was going to lead in Washington, D.C., with (Democratic New York U.S. Sen. Chuck) Schumer and (Republican Arizona U.S. Sen.) John McCain and the 'gang of eight' gave and gives everybody a little bit of cause for pause. And with immigration being such a big issue today, I think that's going to be a hurdle that's going to be a very steep for Marco Rubio to clear."

Vander Plaats' endorsement of Cruz piggy-backs on the one given last month by U.S. Rep. Steve King, another conservative opinion leader in Iowa. Cruz languished as a second-tier candidate all year — he claimed only 6 percent of likely GOP caucusgoers support in an Iowa Poll in January; 8 percent in August; and 10 percent in October.

But after King gave Cruz his blessing Nov. 16, the Texan vaulted to the top tier of polls in Iowa.

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There have been other bellwethers that signaled Iowa evangelicals might unite around one candidate, therefore amplifying their power in lifting a religious conservative into the nomination. Iowa-based syndicated radio host Steve Deace endorsed Cruz in August. A member of the Republican Party of Iowa State Central Committee who had pledged to stay neutral, Loras Schulte, was so moved by Cruz that he resigned from his seat and endorsed for the first time in 16 years. And dozens of conservative ministers and gun rights activists have signed on with Cruz in recent weeks.

The board for the Family Leader decided it would not endorse, which means the organization's resources, including its mailing lists or staff, won't be used to promote Cruz, Vander Plaats told the Register.

But the board voted 9-0 that Cruz is the best candidate; one member abstained because of a long-standing friendship with another candidate. And the board gave the go-ahead for Vander Plaats, Family Leader vice president Chuck Hurley and board chairman Robert Cramer to make personal endorsements. All three chose Cruz.

Republican Party of Iowa Chairman Jeff Kaufmann diminished the role of Vander Plaats in the presidential race.

“Of course it has some meaning, but it can’t be compared to the influence of people like Governor Terry Branstad, Sen. Chuck Grassley, Sen. Joni Ernst or Rep. Steve King. Those are the top tier endorsements in Iowa that really have ability to move numbers," Kaufmann said.