Republican presidential candidate Ted Cruz held a rally in Des Moines, Iowa on Sunday, the night before the Iowa caucus.
Cruz is a conservative, Christian, pro-life senator from Texas looking to appeal to similarly-minded voters, including supporters of the Tea Party and evangelical Christians.
Cruz and his multiple opening speakers discussed his "values" quite frequently throughout the rally, which was held in a crowded room at the Iowa State Fairgrounds in Des Moines. So, we asked people who confirmed they were Cruz supporters which value of his they most appreciate*.
The responses fell into three categories: consistency, following the Constitution and religion.
Cruz supporters say he has a reliable voting pattern and follows through.
Conviction. I think he's the most convicted candidate, besides maybe Bernie Sanders, and I think that when he says he's going to do something, he has a track record of doing it. That's been the most impressive thing to me about Ted Cruz. -- Kyle, 27 [Cruz] truly does do what he says he's going to do, so I think that that's really what's most appealing to us, is just that we're so sick and tired of them lying to us. If you're not going to do it, don't say that you're going to do it because we will follow up to see if you do it. That's you, Rubio. -- Bianca, 26 The value that Cruz has that I really appreciate is consistency. That's something I really think is important in a leader, especially in a president. He's had a consistent record in the Senate and in all his previous work. -- Lauren, 19 He stands for what he believes in. He stands for the Constitution, he stands on principle, he holds the same values as me, and he doesn't waver. A lot of politicians, we send them to Washington, and they go to make a deal -- they go along to get along. Ted? He does what we ask him to do. He actually stands for 'we the people,' not for, you know, big government and making a deal. -- Jason, 40
Other Cruz supporters appreciate his stances on the Constitution.
The Constitution protects us all -- a lot of people don't realize that anymore -- but it's what protects us from each other and protects us from the government overstepping their boundaries. That's what separated us from the rest of the world. We don't want to be like the rest of the world. Like the Bible says, live in this world but don't be of this world. So my favorite part of Ted is that he is a Constitutionalist, and he'll uphold my freedoms and your freedoms. -- Brewer, 20 Whatever the Constitution says, he believes in it, and he does what the Constitution says -- how it was written 250 years ago. He still takes that to heart. It's our God-given right for all those rights that we were guaranteed in the Constitution, and he believes that Americans should still have those rights. -- Braiden, 19
For many Cruz supporters, his religion is the biggest selling point.
That he's a Christian... He's being led by God. -- Caleb, 16 (Caleb is too young to vote.) My strongest issue is probably religious freedom, and he has stood up and fought for that for many people -- not just one denomination of religion, but many denominations of religion. I believe he'll continue to do that. And then the right to bear arms is important to us, too. -- Teresa, 47 The one quality that I admire in him the most is that he desires to honor God. -- Esther, 20 Definitely the [plan to] defund Planned Parenthood. That really speaks to me the most. Especially since, you know, Planned Parenthood is -- abortion is murder, it doesn't matter what everybody says, it's murder, so. -- Brooke, 16 (Brooke is too young to vote.) [Cruz] has strong character, he loves the Lord and he's humble about it. And he's willing to ask for forgiveness for all the sins -- he admits that he's a sinner, and he gives the way he was saved, and that's very important to especially all of us Christian conservatives. We want to know that the man of God truly loves the Lord. -- Peggy, 17 (Under Iowa laws, Peggy can caucus as she will be 18 in time for the national election.) I would admire that he's honest and consistent and he wants to honor God. -- Amy, 24
*Some interviews have been edited for length.
