Sen. Ted Cruz is changing ad strategy in Iowa in the final days before key caucus voting, reportedly taking sharper aim at GOP presidential campaign rival Sen. Marco Rubio than front-runner Donald Trump.
The New York Times reports the new tack comes as Cruz strategists find public polls and private surveys showing the Florida lawmaker gaining ground.
According to Real Clear Politics, Trump leads in a polling average in Iowa with 31.4 percent, while Cruz is in second place with 25.2 percent and Rubio has 14.4 percent.
The Times reports the attack ads hitting Rubio will center on his central role in the 2013 Senate push to pass a comprehensive immigration overhaul that included amnesty for illegal immigrants.
"If that's one of the issues we're talking about heading into Monday that's a good thing," an unnamed Cruz adviser tells the Times.
Rubio isn't surprised.
"When a candidate's being attacked, obviously someone's worried about you. So obviously Sen. Cruz is worried about my candidacy," he said on Friday,
Politico reports.
"I think people are starting to learn the truth about Ted on immigration and a host of other issues that shows a history of calculation," Rubio said at an event in Muscatine, Iowa, Politico reports. "And I think it's starting to hurt him a little bit. I mean, we'll see what it all turns into."
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