Ted Cruz has successfully courted Bob Vander Platts, Iowa’s main Christian powerbroker, winning his endorsement Thursday that was sought feverishly by about half the Republican field. Now, Cruz in closing in on winning the backing of another top social conservative networker: Tony Perkins.

“There’s clearly movement going toward Ted, and I think he’s making all the right moves,” Perkins told CNN Thursday. “But from a timing standpoint, I’m still watching, waiting.”

Perkins, who heads the Family Research Council, sits at the top of a pair of sprawling social conservative networks, the Conservative Action Project and the Council for National Policy, that are the hidden hub of the forces looking to push the Republican Party further right.… Continue Reading