The Anatomy of a Town Hall, Part 6: Ted Cruz

I traveled to New Hampshire this past weekend to attend two of the three GOP front-runners’ town halls: Marco Rubio and Ted Cruz. As I said in my article yesterday, I tried to book a Donald Trump rally, but was unable to fit it into my schedule.

In this article, I’ll take an inside look at the Cruz rally. My take on Mr. Rubio’s rally was published yesterday.

Coming from a Rubio rally that ended a couple of hours earlier, I went in wondering how Mr. Cruz’s would compare. The people I spoke to at the other rally were largely undecided; would the same hold true here? Would the crowd be as excited as they were for Mr. Rubio? And would Mr. Cruz speak as well as Mr. Rubio, who is often more scripted than other candidates?

Mr. Cruz’s town hall was to start at 1:30 in Peterborough, NH, a picturesque village, replete with old, majestic trees covered in snow and small-town American beauty. The doors opened to the event at 1:00. I arrived at about 12:55, and already over 100 people had lined up outside the rally.

Eventually, the doors opened and I made it inside. Before I was allowed to enter the rally, however, I was required to fill out a card that game my name, email, phone number, and whether I was voting for Mr. Cruz or if I was undecided.

Making my way up a flight of stairs, I arrived at the rally. There were about half the number of people at the Cruz rally than at the Rubio rally. I don’t think many more people could have fit. And, happily for me, there were enough chairs for me to sit down, unlike at Mr. Rubio’s event.

I took the time before the rally to talk to a number of people in attendance. Like those at the Rubio rally, they were all courteous and more than happy to have a discussion about their views.

Unlike the Rubio rally, nearly everyone that I spoke to was solidly a Cruz supporter. One married couple that I spoke to were emphatically in favor of Mr. Cruz’s candidacy and had traveled from upstate New York to attend. And, coincidentally, someone else I spoke to lived right in Peterborough a couple of blocks away.

The people that I spoke to saw Mr. Cruz as a man of his word. One person that I spoke to said his history shows him as a person who has been tried and tested, but he still had the resolve to stand up for his values. Another person said that they believe that Mr. Cruz followed through with his campaign promises and stands in “defense of life,” Israel, and the Constitution.

Most that I talked to had not seen the debate that happened the night before. The ones who did, however, thought that Mr. Cruz performed superbly, and that Mr. Christie had a good debate as well.

While most people said they were going to support Cruz, they were split on their second choice. About half the people I spoke to said they would support Mr. Rubio if Mr. Cruz were not in the race; some said Mr. Carson would have their vote, and another said they simply did not know enough about the other candidates to choose a second choice.

However, like at the Rubio rally, the people were united in their opinion of Donald Trump. Literally every single person that I spoke to said they were not going to vote for Mr. Trump under any circumstances.

One man that I spoke to said that he had “never” voted for a democrat, and he had been voting for several decades. If Mr. Trump gets the nomination, however, he said that he would vote for whoever the democrats chose. Another person said that there was “not a chance” that she could ever support Trump, and another said they’d write in someone else’s name in the general election should he get the nomination.

The distaste for Mr. Trump was so apparent that there was even someone dressed up as him, mimicking his facial and hand gestures. Dozens of people took pictures of him or talked to him.

At about 1:35, we said the pledge of allegiance and Mr. Cruz was introduced. We then watched a three-minute video about Mr. Cruz’s history and how the media covered his race for the White House. When it ended, Mr. Cruz walked onto the stage.

Over the course of his prepared remarks, I noticed two things that were different than at the Rubio rally. First, Mr. Cruz knew his applause lines well and seemed to know when something he said was going to be met with a loud, favorable response. Second, about a dozen people shouted things in agreement with Cruz during the rally, which Mr. Cruz fed off of. This only happened a couple of times during the Rubio rally.

As Mr. Rubio had, Mr. Cruz spoke of the need to support Israel, the need to grow the US economy by lowering taxes and red tape, and that electing a democrat would further the agenda that Barack Obama has been pushing for the last seven years. Mr. Cruz also said that it would be “nuts” to draft women into the army and equated it to political correctness.

After his remarks, Mr. Cruz then took questions from the crowd. Like at the Rubio rally, there was a group of doctors who asked Mr. Cruz what his “moonshot” would be, like President Obama’s moonshot to cure cancer. Like Mr. Rubio, Mr. Cruz said Alzheimer’s, but added that we should be looking at other major illnesses as well.

Mr. Cruz also answered a question about eminent domain, how he would help people overcome oppression, and why Hillary Clinton has so many “waffles.”

At the end of the rally, Mr. Cruz literally hopped off the stage to meet people, skipping the stairs. Even though there were hundreds of people that mobbed him, Mr. Cruz stayed and met every single person that wanted to meet him.

He did not simply shake hands, either. Everyone that wanted a picture with him got one. Everyone that wanted a signature got one. Mr. Cruz even had discussions with a number of people. I was able to meet Mr. Cruz and get his autograph.

I was impressed by Mr. Cruz’s town hall and think it was very effective. I could see people enthusiastic about supporting Mr. Cruz during the primary and am under the impression that he may very well do better than the polls suggest, as he did in Iowa.