My layman's opinion on the Cruz candidacy. He has absolutely no chance whatsoever of winning a general election. The left hates him and he'd get no crossover. The GOPe hates him and many of them would vote for Hillary. But the GOPe is desperate to get Trump off the ticket. They give all kinds of excuses why, but the real reason is because it would upset the grand deal they have with the dems to expand gov't in both domestic policy and wars abroad. All their power and glory would be at risk. The GOPe figures that if it put one of their own on the ticket at a contested convention, all the Trump people might bolt, not vote in the general, and it would put their own congressional seats at risk. So, they'll push for Cruz and let him be the nominee, knowing that he has no chance, which is fine with them. This accomplishes many things for the GOPe. 1. They figure most conservatives will still go to the polls, helping them retain their congressional seats. 2. They figure Cruz will lose to Hillary, which they want because it will keep the grand deal between dems and repuds to expand social programs and wars in place. 3. They can then proclaim that conservatives can't win the general and we need to place a mccain or romney on the ticket next time. The GOPe knows it can't get it all, but this way they can get most all of what they want. Let's face it. Why else would GOPe's like Romney back Cruz? Nobody thinks the GOPe actually want Cruz to win the general, do they?
If they didn't want Cruz to be the nominee, the state conventions would make their own people the delegates. We're seeing reports all over the place that they're making Cruz people the delegates. They can't make an establishment person the nominee on the second ballot if Cruz supporting people are the delegates.
Imagine sitting in a bar, or even a coffee shop, with a few friends, and on the topics of best movies you get picks like The Godfather, The Departed, Inception, The Matrix, Lord of Rings -Two towers, and then one of the group opts for The Princess diaries- and he is not cut, drugged or even making a weak joke.. I mean what could you say to that?
I think this is totally spot on. The party hacks are ok with losing rather than winning with Trump. They will even go so far as to support a guy they detest, Cruz, to block Trump. Trump threatens their entire world, Hillary doesn't. If you need additional proof, check out this fawning NYT article on Paul Ryan. http://www.nytimes.com/2016/04/11/u...candidate-wages-a-parallel-campaign.html?_r=0 They are gushing about how clever he is. His plan is to sit back and wait for Trump or Cruz to get the nomination, then undermine them with a passive-aggressive articulation of "alternative" , ie establishment policies. Then when they lose, he will triumphantly step up and say, in time-honored Washington fashion, "See, if only they had listened to me." Then there will be a collective media/party insider group hug and announcement that henceforth, only establishment-approved policies can be considered. Ryan may be a loser but he is smart enough to know that trying to grab the nomination himself would be suicidal. The Trump/Cruz voters would not support him and they would stay home, costing the party lots of congressional seats. There is a huge element of denial in all this. The party hacks think the Trump thing is a one-time, personality driven aberration. Once he's gone, we'll go back to voting for the Bushes and McCains like we're told to do by Fox. I just don't see that happening. I think it is more likely that there is a third party formed to appeal to the anti-establishment sentiment uncovered by Trump and Sanders. Such a party would quickly relegate the republicans to minor party status.
A Cruz win is great for the Pub establishment because it all but guarantees a Hitlery victory. Neocons love Hitlery. They won't vote her in but she will still win and they Pub establishment will get everything they want (except maybe a Right leaning Supreme Court justice).
"Ted Cruz favorite movie: the princes diaries" It's the "Princess Bride"*, you dolt. Please work on your remedial English reading skills. * http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0093779/