Cruz backers lament missed convention opportunity

CLEVELAND — Some Iowa delegates who backed Sen. Ted Cruz in the Feb. 1 caucuses expressed disappointment the Texas senator did not fulfill a pledge Wednesday to endorse rival Donald Trump as the 2016 GOP presidential nominee — a defiant move that may impact his political future.

Cruz went from hot to cold in delivering a fiery call for defending freedom and advancing conservative goals before seeing cheers turn to boos when he urged fellow Republicans to 'vote your conscience' in November without giving his stamp of approval to a unified effort to elect Trump.

'He was my guy, but my guy made a pledge to endorse the nominee,' said David Chung, a Cedar Rapids delegate who came to Cleveland hoping to be part of 'an insurgency' to get Cruz nominated if Trump's support faltered. 'But he didn't keep his pledge. Disappointment is the kindest way I can put it.'

Cruz backer and Norway delegate Loras Schulte said the Texas senator missed an opportunity to establish himself as the party's go-to conservative in 2020 similar to Ronald Reagan turned a 1976 defeat into his 1980 presidential win by putting aside a bitter primary fight to lock GOP arms.

'I understand it was a tough campaign, a personal campaign, but there is a greater good here, from my perspective, and that would be a Republican winning the White House and making those appointments to the Supreme Court,' he said. 'I would have thought long term that he might have endeared himself a little bit more to other sections of the party.'

Other Cruz backers came to his defense Thursday. Kay Quirk, a Cruz supporter from Alta, said she found no fault in the Texas senator's speech while delegate Bob Vander Plaats of Grimes praised Cruz for delivering a 'powerful message' about conservatism but is still on a 'journey' toward embracing Trump similar to other Republicans.

'I don't see anything wrong with saying vote your conscience,' Quirk noted. 'I think everybody should do what's right for them and I think they should be encouraged to be true to themselves.

'Things have been said on both sides and there have been no apologies given. I would find it hard in my heart to wholeheartedly endorse somebody who made comments about my family, derogatory things,' she added.

Vander Plaats said Trump helped himself by the way he handled the situation — allowing Cruz to address the convention without stipulating an endorsement and later tweeting that it was no big deal when he didn't get one from the Texas senator.

'Cruz is a big boy. He's 44 years old. He made a big-boy decision last night. I'm not saying that's the one I would have made but that's the one he made,' Vander Plaats said.

'Ted Cruz has not been one to just fall into line, so no one should be real surprised by that,' he added. 'It's never fun to see a friend have a mixed reaction or get booed but I think he did what he needed to do'.

Vander Plaats said he is in the same place where he plans to vote for Trump but not necessarily endorse him publicly. 'That's why they booed because they want him to get their quicker than what he is,' Vander Plaats added, saying it 'remains to be seen' if it hurts Cruz standing in the party going forward.

Jeff Kaufmann, chairman of the Republican Party of Iowa, said there were a lot of positives that came out of the convention — especially a strong introductory performance by vice presidential nominee Mike Pence of Indiana. But, he said, unfortunately, the positives were overshadowed by Cruz's disruptive, 'self-imposed negative unity.'

'I think he missed a golden opportunity, I really do,' Kaufmann told reporters. 'There are going to be people who remember that moment. You don't get many moments in life like that one, and so I mean he gave up the best moment but that wasn't the only moment.'

Donna Robinson, an alternate delegate from Marengo and a Cruz supporter, said the Texas senator's decision not to deliver an anticipated 'soft endorsement' was a big disappointment in a night at the convention that otherwise was 'pretty doggone awesome.'

'I was terribly disappointed that he didn't keep his pledge. He pledged to support the nominee and he needed to say that,' said Robinson, who added that she understood why some delegates booed. 'He wasn't beloved before and that's kind of why I liked him is because the powers that be didn't like him, so he was my guy.'

Gov. Terry Branstad said Cruz did a good job in delivering his remarks, 'but I think he made a mistake by not going one step forward and actually doing the endorsement. I didn't boo but a lot of people did.'