A couple of new Cruz ads are rolling out in Arizona and Utah, one highlights Ted Cruz’s experience and readiness to be President and another hits illegal immigration.

First up, from Trusted Leadership PAC, we have “Ready On Day One.”

Nothing really earthshaking here, it is designed to appeal to a more traditional audience that is interested in the president being ready for the job. I other words, Trump voters aren’t going to respond to this but Rubio and Kasich voters may.

The second ad is causing vapors in the media because it features a man whose son was killed by an illegal in a robbery. This ad is titled “Grant.”

This is how the New York Times sees it:

On Screen

Over sedate piano chords, family snapshots show Grant Ronnebeck as a smiling young boy, then a smiling young man, as his father, Steve Ronnebeck, tells his story: “My son Grant was killed working an overnight shift at his job by an illegal immigrant.”

A mug shot of Grant’s accused killer is shown, alongside a photo of a crime scene and an excerpt from an article in The Arizona Republic reporting that the suspect had already been facing federal deportation proceedings after a separate criminal conviction, but was out on an immigration bond.

Mr. Ronnebeck, addressing the camera, calls his son’s death “completely preventable.”

Then, in an abrupt transition, he says, “I trust Ted Cruz. He believes in the Constitution. He believes in the rule of law.” Still photos of Mr. Cruz fill the screen, one of him speaking in front of a giant American flag, another standing pensively in profile. “It’s time we put somebody in office who puts the American people first,” Mr. Ronnebeck says.

The Message

Sowing fear over crime committed by immigrants who entered the country illegally, then promising to end it: It’s a tactic used by Donald J. Trump frequently, including in his own ad, but this ad avoids Mr. Trump’s more caustic tone. Instead, by letting a bereft father speak for him, Mr. Cruz can tap into anti-immigration sentiment with empathy, rather than with anger.

Fact Check

Grant Ronnebeck was killed at a QuikTrip convenience store on Jan. 22, 2015. Prosecutors have said they intend to seek the death penalty against Apolinar Altamirano, who was charged with murder.

The ad is completely accurate but because, in the world of the New York Times, illegal aliens killing unoffending citizens is something of a protected activity, the ad taps into “anti-immigration sentiment” rather than tapping into people being furious that the policy of the United States under Barack Obama is to not deport criminal illegals because the killer, Apolinar Altamirano, was out on bond as the ICE was trying to decide if he should be deported.

This ad is clearly going after Trump voters who may be more than a little queasy about the whole Trump package persona.