Sen. Mike Lee is asked frequently whom he backs in the crowded presidential field and he always demurs, making a crack about how hard it is to have multiple friends running to become leader of the free world.
Now he's going to try a new tack. He'll attend separate campaign events with Sens. Marco Rubio and Ted Cruz in South Carolina on Thursday, just two days before that state's influential Republican primary.
Lee, R-Utah, will spend the morning with Rubio at the Christ Church Episcopal School in Greenville and will visit Mutts BBQ with Cruz in Easley in the afternoon.
While Cruz of Texas and Rubio of Florida continue to fight vigorously over issues such as immigration, Lee is making, in essence, a dual endorsement.
"Senators Rubio and Cruz both espouse the conservative principles and conservative policies I believe are necessary to get the country moving on the right track," Lee said in a statement.
Recent polls in South Carolina show Cruz and Rubio fighting for second place behind celebrity billionaire Donald Trump. While Cruz appears to hold a slight edge, South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley endorsed Rubio at a rally Wednesday evening.
The main reason Lee made the trip to South Carolina is to deliver a speech at the Conservative Review Convention, calling for an aggressive, positive conservative platform that goes beyond criticism of President Barack Obama's policies or the bombast of Trump.
"I hope conservatives have learned the lesson that anger is not an agenda, frustration is not a platform and when we fail to offer a bold conservative agenda, the liberal left wins, government grows, and the poor and middle class continue to suffer."
The Lee campaign told the Rubio and Cruz camps he would be willing to attend a campaign event, but both would have to say yes. He wouldn't appear for just one of them.
Sen. Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, has endorsed Jeb Bush, while Utah's four House members have all backed Rubio.
Utah Republicans will hold a presidential caucus vote March 22.
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