As Cecil Stinemetz walked up to a gray clapboard house in suburban Des Moines last week wearing his “Cruz 2016” cap, a program on his iPhone was determining what kind of person would answer the door. …
It turned out that Birdie Harms, a 64-year-old grandmother, part-time real-estate agent and longtime Republican was, by the Cruz campaign’s calculations, a “stoic traditionalist” — a conservative whose top concerns included President Obama’s use of executive orders on immigration. …
The outreach to Harms and others like her is part of a months-long effort by the Cruz campaign to profile and target potential supporters, an approach that campaign officials believe has helped propel the Texas senator to the top tier in many states, including Iowa, where he is now in first place, according to two recent polls. CONT.
Tom Hamburger, Washington Post