Cruz Campaigns at Town Hall

Sen. Ted Cruz visited the Exeter Town Hall on Jan. 20 as part of his five-day cross-state bus tour, “Cruzin’ to Victory.” Along with the Texas senator’s avid supporters, a few Exonians attended the event to meet the presidential candidate.

After focusing on the Iowa caucuses, Cruz returned to New Hampshire to solidify his support; from Keene to the White Mountains, he aimed to remind the voters of his care for the Granite State.

The morning of Cruz’s visit, volunteers adorned the Exeter Town Hall with campaign stickers and posters; on the stage, a banner featuring one of the campaign’s many puns—“TRUSTED”—hung in between the American flag and the flag of New Hampshire; there were several country tunes, including Jason Aldean’s “The Only Way I Know” boomed from the speakers.

Bill O’Brien, former New Hampshire House Speaker and the current head of the Republican caucus in the state, introduced the senator alongside Executive Councilor David Wheeler. The two, who are aiding Cruz’s efforts in New Hampshire, praised Cruz for his consistent conservatism and evangelical, libertarian policies.

“Ted Cruz stood for truly conservative values. Ted is smart, he’s strong, he’s ideologically sound.”

O’Brien said that he endorsed Cruz for a number of reasons, one of which was the Texas senator’s faith in the absolutist role of the Constitution.

“I’ve had the opportunity to speak to a number of candidates while I was the New Hampshire House Speaker; I met with all the Republican candidates and while I was really impressed by all of them, I was particularly impressed by Sen. Cruz because of his belief in the Constitution and its role,” O’Brien said.

O’Brien noted that Cruz, a “terrifically smart politician,” devoted much of his early career to the study of the Constitution. He noted that Cruz is a graduate of Princeton University’s Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs and Harvard Law School, and emphasized the senator’s expertise in public policy and interpretations of government.

“He’s a person who didn’t come to his concern about what is happening to our Constitution, recently—he’s a person, who as a young fellow, was always studying the Constitution. Plus he has argued nine times in front of the U.S. Supreme Court on behalf of the Constitution,” O’Brien said. “So I believe he is the person who is going to be able to best present the Republican message—individual responsibility and individual sovereignty.”

Such endorsements by key political figures in both New Hampshire and beyond were featured in campaign videos throughout the meeting, receiving frequent applauses from supporters of Cruz. However, not all of those present approved of Cruz as the next commander in chief.

Gene Tillock, 56-year-old resident of Durham, said that although he enjoyed the event and the opportunity to meet the senator, he was disappointed that Cruz did not address some key international issues.

“I thought the event was good in the sense that the New Hampshire primary is picking up a lot of steam. He talked about very salient issues in the world including immigration, radical Islam and more, but he also omitted some key issues like East Asian relations—relations with China, both Koreas and Japan,” Tillock said. “I liked how he showed himself as a strong bible-believing Christian and Republican, but I don’t know if he will be able to get elected as President.”

Exonians who attended the meeting responded to Cruz with varied sentiments.

Senior Audrey DeGuerrera said that she was both impressed and intrigued by Cruz.

“Personally, I am still deciding on who I will vote for in the upcoming presidential election, but seeing Ted Cruz in person definitely influenced my opinion of him. Although he did seem a bit rehearsed at times, he was a great orator, and really seemed to be able to captivate the audience,” DeGuerrera said. “It was great to see Ted Cruz in person, and see that he is an actual human, not just a crusty old politician like many of his opponents.”

Postgraduate Mathias Valenta agreed. “I thought he was an incredible orator, combined political emotion with intelligent points on economics and policy—also very funny and charming.”

Valenta and DeGuerrera both noted that they found Cruz’s story of his father most memorable for varying reasons.

“I was impressed and touched when he talked about his father’s story as a legal immigrant, because it combined economic policy, immigration policy and personal anecdote,” Valenta said.

“Cruz openly talked about his ideas for immigration reform, which included mass deportations of illegal aliens currently living in the US, and building a heavily guarded, Trump-esque wall on the border,” DeGuerrera said. “I wish that instead he would take measures to further support legal immigration while cutting back on illegal immigration.”

Senior Nick Madamidola said that while “it was cool to see him in person,” overall, he did not agree with anything the candidate said.

“He was a nice guy and the crowd seemed fired up—they seemed ready to vote for him,” Madamidola said. “But I don’t think he is White House material.”

Madamidola added that Cruz’s supporters are homogenous and that he didn’t feel comfortable during the meeting as one of the three blacks present.

“The crowd was very white—it was me and one other black person there and when I took a pic with him all the media cameras took photos of me,” Madamidola said.

DeGuerrera attributed the homogenous voter base to the consistent conservatism of the senator.

“I felt that Ted Cruz was very conservative, more so than I would want in a candidate. On every issue, social or fiscal, Ted Cruz identified as conservative. During the meeting Cruz also preached about how he would never go to the ‘mushy middle’ and run as ‘Democrat-lite,’” she said.

“I think that is fair, but turns off voters who are more open to socially liberal ideas,” she added.

Most of the supporters, however, said that they were attracted to the extra-conservative side of Cruz.

O’Brien said that he mainly decided to support Cruz because of the senator’s consistent conservatism, especially his conservative view toward the nation’s government.

“He believes in the Republican message of limited government—particularly a limited federal government,” O’Brien said. “He understands clearly that our federal government was never meant to be a national government—it was meant to be a federal government with limited powers.”

Valenta echoed O’Brien’s sentiments. “He is truly the new Ronald Reagan, attacked for being too conservative, but polls clearly indicate weak and institutional candidates are unwanted,” Valenta said. “Ted Cruz stood for truly conservative values. Ted is smart, he’s strong, he’s ideologically sound.”