Ballot Boxing: Trump basks in Palin's support

Welcome to Ballot Boxing, WORLD’s political roundup of news and views from the presidential campaign trail.

Churchgoers, congressmen, and presidential candidates rejoiced over Iran’s release last weekend of five American prisoners, including Iranian-American pastor Saeed Abedini.

But at least two GOP presidential contenders questioned the means to the end.

Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas said the Obama administration’s prisoner swap set “a very dangerous precedent” by releasing seven Iranian nationals charged with violating U.S. sanctions against helping Iran develop its nuclear programs.

White House officials insist the released men—along with 14 other Iranians now dropped from an Interpol watch list—are not a major threat. One former prisoner, Nima Golestaneh, pleaded guilty in December to committing a cyber-attack against a Vermont-based defense contractor. The Interpol watch list included Mahan Air CEO Hamid Arabnejad, sanctioned in 2013 for allegedly transporting arms to Bashar al-Assad’s regime in Syria.

“Praise God the prisoners are coming home,” Cruz told Fox News but noted the deal was “problematic” and “reflects a pattern we have seen in the Obama administration over and over again of negotiating with terrorists and making deals and trades that endanger U.S. safety and security.”

Sen. Marco Rubio of Florida told NBC the Iranians traded American hostages for Iranian criminals and said Obama has “put a price on the head of every American abroad. Our enemies now know that if you capture an American, you can get something meaningful in exchange for it.”

Abedini, the American pastor arrested for his Christian faith while visiting Iran in 2012, continues to recover at a U.S. military base in Germany. U.S. Rep. Robert Pittenger, R-N.C., visited Abedini at the base on Monday and told an Idaho news station the pastor appeared to be in good physical and mental health.

It wasn’t clear when Abedini would be reunited with his family in the United States. Abedini’s wife, Naghmeh, reported serious problems in their marriage in emails published in November. Pittenger said Abedini expressed a desire to “do his part, to be right before the Lord and how he relates to his wife and children, and he looks forward to that.”

Meanwhile, thousands of pro-life Americans look forward to the 43rd annual March for Life slated for Friday in Washington, D.C. Two days ahead of the event, Rubio’s campaign announced a “dignity of life advisory board” that includes Al Mohler of The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, Christian apologist Ravi Zacharias, and former Planned Parenthood director-turned-pro-life-advocate Abby Johnson.

Speaking of Planned Parenthood, Democratic presidential contender Hillary Clinton continued to bask in the glow of an endorsement from the nation’s largest abortion provider. Planned Parenthood’s political action committee feted Clinton at a rally in New Hampshire this month—the first time the organization has endorsed a candidate during the primary season in its 100-year history.

Despite a series of undercover videos showing Planned Parenthood officials haggling over the price of aborted baby body parts, Clinton remained defiant: “I will always defend Planned Parenthood.”

She also offered a preview of what a Clinton presidency could mean for unborn children by condemning the Hyde Amendment. The federal legislation prohibits Medicaid funds for most abortions. Clinton said it “makes it harder for low-income women to exercise their full rights.”

The next evening at Drake University, Clinton repeated a call to repeal the Hyde Amendment, calling abortion “a fundamental human right.” The stark, disturbing language is a monumental departure from her husband’s call during his presidency in the 1990s to make abortion “safe, legal, and rare.”

No call for rarity in a new Clinton administration.

Clinton has relished a longtime relationship with Planned Parenthood, accepting its highest award in 2009. (The award is named after Planned Parenthood founder—and eugenics enthusiast—Margaret Sanger.) In Iowa, where Clinton remains locked in a heated contest with Democratic opponent Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., her communications director is Lily Adams—daughter of Planned Parenthood president Cecile Richards.

The GOP contest continued its close race in Iowa as well, as Donald Trump revealed a secret weapon on Tuesday: Former vice presidential candidate and Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin, who endorsed the business mogul for president and appeared with him at a rally in Ames, Iowa.

“He’s got the guts to wear the issues that need to be spoken about on his sleeve,” she told the crowd.

Trump reminded Iowa supporters they hadn’t picked a GOP candidate who went on to win the nomination since 2000.

“If they pick someone other than me, they’re going to pick another loser,” he declared.

As Trump continued attacking Cruz, his fiercest opponent in Iowa, a Super PAC backing the senator from Texas aired a digital ad with a speech Trump delivered in 2014. He praised Cruz as a “very, very popular and important figure in all our lives.”

Finally, on a sad note, we send our condolences to the campaign of GOP candidate Ben Carson. The retired neurosurgeon temporarily suspended his campaign after a car accident injured three and killed one of his Iowa volunteers. Braden Joplin, 25, died when the van he was riding in with a campaign staffer and two other volunteers skidded on ice and was hit by a car.

Carson flew from South Carolina to Iowa to meet Joplin’s family. Carson expressed sadness over the loss of the volunteer he knew personally.

“One of the precious few joys of campaigning is the privilege of meeting bright young men and women who are so enthusiastic about their country that they will freely give of their time and energy to work on its behalf,” he said. “America lost one of those bright young men today.”

Last night, Deana Bass, Carson’s national press secretary, posted on Twitter: “Peace I leave with you, My peace I give you. I do not give you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid.” (John 14:27)