Ted Cruz’s newest tool to sway voters: prayer

WASHINGTON — Sen. Ted Cruz is harnessing the power of prayer for his presidential bid.

The Texas Republican is creating a National Prayer Team that will hold a weekly prayer conference call every Tuesday as part of Cruz’s strategy to tap into the enthusiasm of evangelical voters, particularly those in the early Southern primary states.

“We’re organizing ‘A Time for Prayer’ to establish a direct line of communication between our campaign and the thousands of Americans who are lifting us up before the Lord,” Cruz said.

Those who sign up to join the team will also receive weekly emails with prayer requests for the nation and the candidate. And it will also provide the Cruz campaign with a fresh email list of the potential small-dollar donors who have fueled his war chest.

Cruz has positioned himself as the most conservative candidate in the Republican field, and his team seeks to stretch the senator’s appeal beyond his tea party base to a wider conservative audience.

Evangelical voters are a powerful bloc, and they have the potential to have oversized influence on March 1, when several Southern states will vote in what’s been dubbed the SEC primary, after the college athletic conference.

The Cruz campaign’s goal is for the senator to become the right flank’s top choice in a matchup with the establishment-backed favorite in a final showdown for the party’s nomination.

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