NEW ORLEANS—GOP presidential candidates Ted Cruz and Rick Santorum are assisting Sen. David Vitter in the final week of the Louisiana gubernatorial runoff campaign. Each of them recorded robocalls this week to support Vitter, focusing on issues that will fire up social conservatives to get to the polls. Vitter spokesman Luke Bolar said he believes a third call from Florida Sen. Marco Rubio is also in the works.
Cruz’s recorded call emphasized early voting, which began Nov. 7 and ended Saturday, and touted Vitter’s conservative bona fides. In his call, Cruz says: “Last month, over a half million Republicans didn’t vote. Your early vote is critical to keeping liberal Democrat John Bel Edwards, who endorsed Obama on national television, from becoming governor. David Vitter and I have fought side-by-side against President Obama’s illegal amnesty, we fought to end the politician’s special exemption from Obamacare, and most recently we fought to end taxpayer funding for Planned Parenthood. Don’t allow a liberal, Obama-supporting Democrat to become governor of Louisiana. Please, don’t forget to vote Vitter for governor.”
Santorum’s recording is a little more unique. This week, the Vitter campaign sent around links to a story that appeared on a local conservative blog, The Hayride, which portends that Edwards skipped a candidate forum on Thursday to attend a meet-and-greet at a nightclub. The blog also posted videos that a tracker for America Rising captured of Edwards arriving at the club.