Cruz, Fiornia rally supporters in South Bend ahead of Indiana primary
There was certainly no shortage of enthusiasm for Sen. Ted Cruz at the Century Center.
"He's an amazing man," said Gary Bradley, who drove in from Hamlet to attend Cruz' s rally. "He's the closest thing we've had to Ronald Reagan."
"Ted is the real conservative," said Justin Graber, a Cruz supporter from Goshen. "Trump is all over the map."
But behind that support is an unmistakeable sense of concern.
"If he wins Indiana, he's got a shot of getting into the convention without Trump getting a majority," Graber said. "If he loses Indiana, it looks pretty bad. So, this is it."
"I hope Indiana and the rest of the country wakes up before we lose this guy," Bradley said. "Because he's awesome."
That sense of anxiety is something Cruz himself acknowledged in his speech.
"It's the common sense and the good judgement that stands between us and plunging over a cliff," he said.
"I'm originally from Indiana and the whole country is looking to Indiana," said Cheryl Lankes, a Cruz supporter from Florida. "It's that important that I thought I would come up here and maybe to try to talk to some people and make an impact."
Cruz has pulled out all the stops to try to make himself more appealing to voters in Indiana and for the general election.
But some undecided voters at the rally weren't exactly sold on Cruz or a sense of inclusion.
"I don't think his rhetoric is something that makes us feel left out," said Tatiana Romelus, an undecided voter from Andrews University who attended the rally. "I just don't think it's inclusive."
For now at least, the goal for Cruz and his supporters is to do everything they can to unite voters in Indiana.
"If we unite, if we continue to come together, we're going to win the Republican nomination," Cruz said. "If we can continue to unite America, we're going to win the general election. We're going to beat Hillary Clinton and turn this country around."
