sioux city, iowa<u+00a0><u+2014><u+00a0>texas republican ted cruz on saturday brushed off the most recent poll results showing him behind businessman donald trump in iowa by 5 points.









"if you had told me a year ago that two days out from the iowa caucuses we would be neck and neck, effectively tied for first place in the state of iowa, i would have been thrilled," cruz told reporters.









the latest des moines register/bloomberg politics iowa poll, released hours before cruz held a rally here, showed trump retaking his lead in iowa. cruz previously held the poll's top spot.









the latest iowa poll showed trump at 28% support among likely iowa republican caucusgoers and cruz at 23%.









even so, cruz considers himself in a "dead heat" with trump for the top spot. cruz pointed to an increase in attacks against him as proof that he still has strong political standing in iowa.









"everyone in the field is running millions of dollars in attack ads.<u+00a0>we saw it in the last debate where everyone lined up to toss their attacks. that<u+2019>s fine. that goes with the territory," cruz said. "i<u+2019>ll tell you i<u+2019>d be a lot more worried right now if nobody was attacking me. then that would be concerning: what do they know that we don<u+2019>t?"









the u.s. senator and presidential hopeful was ending a five-stop day. cruz had set the rally here as the location for a one-on-one debate he challenged trump to earlier in the week. trump did not show up.









throughout the day, cruz gave a version of his usual stump speech, laying out his agenda for what he'll do if he makes it to the white house. it includes repealing obamacare and common core, opening an investigation into planned parenthood, instituting a flat tax, and<u+00a0>eliminating the irs<u+00a0>and a slate of other federal agencies.









linda imsland, of hubbard, said she supports cruz, during his stop in her town 25 miles north of ames.









"he believes with all his heart that the constitution needs to be upheld," she said.









"i believe he<u+2019>s a very patriotic man. i believe that he cares about the country, and i think it scares him to death to see where we<u+2019>re headed, and it does me, too."









cruz has been making his final pitches throughout iowa while counting down the hours to caucus night.









<u+201c>this is now your time. this is the men and women of iowa, the time to look candidates in the eyes and make the judgment: who do i trust? who do i know is going to defend the constitution, is going to repeal obamacare, is going to stop amnesty, is going to kill the terrorists and keep this country safe?<u+201d> cruz said.
cruz 'thrilled' despite drop in iowa poll
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