--- title: Ted Cruz's Campaign Is Literally Stuck in the Mud in Iowa description: The Texas Senator found his motorcoach stuck in the muck the day before Iowans go to the caucuses. canonical: https://time.com/4201789/ted-cruz-bus-mud/ author: Philip Elliott article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2016-01-31T23:17:42.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-10-05T08:40:59.086Z article:section: Politics og:title: Ted Cruz's Campaign Is Literally Stuck in the Mud in Iowa og:description: Not the image he needed right now. og:url: https://time.com/4201789/ted-cruz-bus-mud/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt3775d03678f7ef4b/69887b81524fc0b4b6df68a2/screen-shot-2016-01-31-at-6-17-20-pm.png?branch=production&width=1176&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1176 og:image:height: 662 og:image:alt: Ted Cruz campaign bus stuck in the mud in Iowa. og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Ted Cruz's Campaign Is Literally Stuck in the Mud in Iowa twitter:description: Not the image he needed right now. twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt3775d03678f7ef4b/69887b81524fc0b4b6df68a2/screen-shot-2016-01-31-at-6-17-20-pm.png?branch=production&width=1176&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Ted Cruz's Campaign Is Literally Stuck in the Mud in Iowa > Sponsored content. 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It explains the politics, personalities and power dynamics behind the headlines, twice a week. #### Where can I get analysis of Washington politics by email? D.C. Brief is TIME's free Washington politics newsletter, available at time.com/newsletters. It is written by a TIME senior correspondent who covers the capital full time. #### Who writes TIME's D.C. Brief? Philip Elliott, a senior correspondent at TIME, writes D.C. Brief. #### Is D.C. Brief free? Yes. D.C. Brief is free at time.com/newsletters. ### Sources * TIME Newsletters: [time.com/newsletters](/c/time-nl-dcbrief-2026q3/newsletters?i=00788207-97ae-430a-8caf-bd18fa45c43a&cr=time-nl-dcbrief-2026q3-v1) ## Video: Ted Cruz Campaign Gets To The Point In Iowa [Watch (HLS stream): Ted Cruz Campaign Gets To The Point In Iowa](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/YLGM6LDG.m3u8) (0:59)  _Published 2016-01-31_  by [Philip Elliott / Iowa City, Iowa](https://time.com/author/philip-elliott/)  ## Philip Elliott / Iowa City, Iowa Senior Correspondent Jan 31, 2016 11:17 PM UTC  by [Philip Elliott / Iowa City, Iowa](https://time.com/author/philip-elliott/)  ## Philip Elliott / Iowa City, Iowa Senior Correspondent Jan 31, 2016 11:17 PM UTC This was not the image Ted Cruz’s campaign wanted on the eve of the Iowa caucuses: his deluxe campaign tour bus needing a tow. The “Cruzin’ to Victory” motorcoach was quite literally stuck in the mud at the water-logged Johnson County fairground on Sunday. After the rally here, Cruz hopped a ride with aides to his next stop while the shiny tour bus was pulled from the mud. Cruz, who is in a tight race against frontrunner Donald Trump, did not need to look like he needed to be pulled across the finish line. The final poll, released Saturday night, shows him with a possible pathway to a win on Monday night. **Read More:** [_Cruz Limps Toward the Finish Line in Iowa_](http://time.com/4200172/ted-cruz-iowa-final-days/) ## Transcript We are here today standing on the promises of second chronicles 7: 14 >> At every stop here in rural northwest Iowa what Cruz is telling crowds is that he wants to commit. He wants to win their vote. He wants them to bring nine friends, and he wants everyone to spend a minute a day praying. Cruz is the most on message of any Republican candidate, and that's a pretty tall order in a field that also includes people like Marco Rubio. Most people generally try to present a case that's gonna be the most broadly appealing to the widest variety of people. But Cruz believes in a race like Iowa what's most important is driving true believers to the polls. And so what he's trying to do is speak the language of religious conservatives to motivate social conservatives by presenting himself as sort of the one Republican who has fought time and again against the establishment, even when it didn't [ UNKNOWN ] to his benefit. We can bring back That shining city on a hill that is this nation we love so. 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