OTTUMWA, Iowa — The escalation of attacks traded by Republican presidential front-runners Donald Trump and Sen. Ted Cruz are falling flat with Hawkeye State voters, who say they are tuning out the din in the final two weeks before the country’s leadoff caucuses.
The two men are locked in a neck-and-neck race, and the strain is showing, with Mr. Trump resorting to name-calling and Mr. Cruz implying that his rival is a closet Democrat.
“It’s just bickering — back and forth,” said Jeff Grooms, 49, an unemployed carpenter who was laid off from a construction job more than six months ago — because, he suspects, of illegal immigrants.
Mr. Grooms said that he was still deciding whether to caucus for Mr. Cruz, Mr. Trump or Sen. Marco Rubio of Florida, though Mr. Cruz was his top choice at the moment.
“Trump’s only going after [Mr. Cruz] because he’s getting close to Trump,” he said, adding that he didn’t take it seriously.
Indeed, the flurry of barbs and recriminations came as the two candidates scrambled to gain an advantage among the same conservative and evangelical voters who are the base for both campaigns in Iowa.
But those same voters say they’ve grown jaded about squabbling politicians.
Jeff Ropp, 43, a Harley Davidson salesman, called the spate of attacks “typical candidate rhetoric” that he said he intends to ignore.
Mr. Ropp also was torn between caucusing for Mr. Cruz, Mr. Trump or Mr. Rubio, but was leaning toward Mr. Cruz.
He said that, at this stage of the race, he won’t be swayed by attacks about Mr. Cruz being born in Canada or taking contributions form Wall Street banks.
“I don’t think they are the most important issues in our time,” said Mr. Ropp. “I like Ted Cruz. I like his values. I like what he stands for. Trump’s OK too.”
Those two men were in a statistical dead heat in a Des Moines Register/Bloomberg Politics poll last week that showed Mr. Cruz at 25 percent and Mr. Trump at 22, a 3-point gap that’s within the survey’s margin of error.
Mr. Rubio held third place with 12 percent, followed by retired neurosurgeon Ben Carson at 11 percent, Sen. Rand Paul of Kentucky at 5 percent, former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush at 4 percent and New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie at 3 percent.
Mr. Trump has lobbed most of the attacks in the scuffle with Mr. Cruz, calling him a “nasty guy” during a Sunday appearance on ABC’s “This Week.”
“Nobody likes him. Nobody in Congress likes him. Nobody likes him anywhere once they get to know him,” said Mr. Trump.
He continued to disparage the Texas senator’s character Monday on Fox News’ “Fox & Friends.”
“Everybody hates Ted. It’s a very tough thing. They all hate him for a lot of reasons, but they all hate him,” he said. “And, by the way, he’s attacked me. So when he attacks me, as you know, I’m a counterpuncher,”
He also has accused Mr. Cruz of being beholden to Wall Street banks that bankroll his campaign, and raised “birther” questions about his eligibility to be president because he was born in Canada.
Mr. Cruz has pursued a singular line of attack, casting doubt upon whether Mr. Trump is a conservative or even a true Republican.
He began the assault at the Republican candidates’ debate last week by describing Mr. Trump as “embodying New York values.”
“Everyone understands that values in New York City are socially liberal, or pro-abortion or pro-gay marriage, focused around money and the media,” he said.
Despite blowback from New York media and politicians, Mr. Cruz stood by his characterization. He said the remark was based on Mr. Trump’s own assessment of his politics in a 1999 interview on NBC’s “Meet the Press,” in which the billionaire businessman said he was pro-choice and pro-gays in the military.
“I’ve lived in New York City and Manhattan all my life. So, you know, my views are a little different than if I lived in Iowa — perhaps,” Mr. Trump said in 1999.
Over the years Mr. Trump has changed political parties and his stances on hot-button issues.
Mr. Cruz hammered Mr. Trump some more Monday, saying his late-life switch to conservatism was not the same as Ronald Reagan’s, who switched from Democrat to Republican at age 51.
“Ronald Reagan did not spend the first 60 years of his life supporting Democratic politicians, advocating for big government,” Mr. Cruz told reporters while campaigning in New Hampshire.
“Supporting things like the TARP big bank bailouts, supporting things like expanding Obamacare to turn it into socialized medicine, that’s not what Ronald Reagan did,” he said.
• S.A. Miller can be reached at smiller@washingtontimes.com.
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