JEFFERSON, Iowa — Republican presidential candidate Ted Cruz boasted Monday that he had completed the “full Grassley” — visiting all 99 counties in the state — as he made a final appeal here hours before the country’s leadoff caucuses where he’s a top competitor.
The “full Grassley” is a campaign feat named after long-serving Sen. Chuck Grassley, a popular Iowa Republican, and part of Mr. Cruz’s strategy to win with one-on-one contacts with voters in small town hall meeting and retail stops that are the hallmark of traditional campaigning in the Hawkeye State.
Mr. Cruz is locked in a tight race to win the caucuses with billionaire businessman Donald Trump, whose unconventional campaign has relied on occasional visits for massive rallies that attracted an army of supporters new to the political process.
Mr. Cruz said he visited every county out of respect.
“It’s a show of respect that I think every candidate who wants to compete in Iowa needs to show — to look you in the eye and answer your questions,” he told a couple hundred people in the gym at Greene County Community Center.
The caucuses have become a virtual two-man race between Mr. Cruz and Mr. Trump, and the only early-voting state where Mr. Trump faces a serious challenge.
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A win by Mr. Trump likely puts him on a fast track toward the nomination. A win by Mr. Cruz could propel him into contention in the next contest in New Hampshire and beyond or maybe slow down Mr. Trump.
Mr. Cruz, who often alludes to Mr. Trump as a “campaign conservative,” insisted that he was the “consistent conservative” who will uphold the values of Iowans, including fighting for religious freedom and adherence to the constitution.
He has attracted a strong following of the state’s evangelical and conservative voters, but Mr. Trump has drawn from the same base.
“I’ve got to tell you this race is neck and neck,” said Mr. Cruz. “It all comes down to turnout.”
As he does at every stop in the last days of the campaign, Mr. Cruz urged every supporter to bring nine friends or relatives to with them to caucus. But this time, he said it with more urgency.
“If everyone here brings nine people to caucus, we’re going to win here, we’re going to win the nomination, we’re going to win the general election beating Hillary Clinton and we’re gong to turn this country around,” Mr. Cruz said to cheers and applause.
Marla Gilliam, a devoted Cruz supporter, said she was relatively confident her candidate would prevail in the caucusres, though he worried voters would be driven by “hype” for Mr. Trump.
“I just think there are a lot of uneducated people who are more concerned with what they want then what is good for the country,” said Mrs. Gilliam, 54, a district sales manager for Rug Doctor. “I don’t think those people will show up. I’m hoping they don’t.”
Mr. Cruz and Mr. Trump both have tapped into an anti-Washington and antiestablishment fervor in the electorate.
In response to an audience member’s question about why President Obama has not been impeached for his executive amnesty for illegal immigrants and other actions that critics deem illegal, Mr. Cruz took aim at his own party.
“Republicans in the House and Republicans in the Senate are afraid to stand up to Barack Obama,” he said. “This is a president who over and over again brakes the law.”
He said Congress “rolled over and took it” when Mr. Obama took executive action on immigration, a mover the president early said would be unconstitutional.
Mr. Cruz vowed that if elected president he would rescind every one of Mr. Obama’s executive actions.
Asked whether Congress can stop Mr. Obama from freeing the most dangerous terrorists held at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, Mr. Cruz said he did not know because lawmakers lack “backbone.”
“They are afraid. They don’t believe they can stand and fight,” he said. “That’s why people are freaked out of their minds. … It explains this election cycle.”
He added: “It’s my hope that not only do we not hut down Guantanamo but we expand it with extra beds for more terrorists.”
• S.A. Miller can be reached at smiller@washingtontimes.com.
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