Ted Cruz ran a great campaign in Iowa, and Marco Rubio (bless him) surged to almost relegate Donald Trump to third place.
Those of us who care about, as Ted Cruz put it in his victory speech, “life, marriage and religious liberty” have a lot to be thankful for this morning:
1. Trump is a cheap SOB. Call him thrifty, but Trump ran his campaign like he ran his businesses — mostly using free publicity and other people’s money. He never built an organization because that would cost money. He woke up a loser in Iowa this morning in part because he didn’t care enough about being President to risk his own fortune. We will see if that changes in New Hampshire.
2. Marco Rubio is the most conservative “establishment” candidate we’ve ever seen. If it’s now a three-man race, or soon will be after New Hampshire votes, those of us who are principled American conservatives can be grateful — including to Trump — that it’s Rubio who has emerged with the third ticket out.
3. Ted Cruz has more crossover appeal than any Iowa winner we’ve seen. Watch Cruz take his appeal as a Constitutional conservative (who stood tall against ethanol subsidies) to the Granite State. He is clearly, explicitly running as the guy who can hold the Reagan coalition together.
A lot to be grateful for this morning, after Iowa.
Maggie Gallagher is a senior fellow at the American Principles Project.
