I'm an ardent Trump supporter almost to the day he got into the race last June. However, had the primary season turned out differently and Ted Cruz was the presumptive nominee, I would not be bitter and I would certainly not be putting up such a post and crapping on my nominee. Instead, I would have sucked it up and would have gotten behind Ted Cruz, just like I have for every Republican nominee since I can remember.
But Ted Cruz did not get the job done. He has only won three primaries - his home state of Texas, Wisconsin and I believe Idaho. All his other victories have been in caucus states where political insiders and party hacks control the process. Ted Cruz got shut out in the Deep South and has been absolutely crushed in the Northeast, crushed so badly that he finished distant third to John Kasich in a number of states.
Regardless of his conservative bona fides, do we really want to make him our nominee only to see him lose in a landslide to Clinton?
The reason we have a primary process is to vet candidates and assess their electability in the general election. If Cruz showed us that he could win, I'd be behind him. Ted Cruz's weak showing in the primaries has not shown us that he can win a general election. His nomination will virtually guarantee a victory for Clinton and we cannot afford that.
Ted Cruz is not charismatic. He does not seem to have a plan other than telling us that he's the one that can "beat Donald Trump", but other than a handful of states, he has not shown us that. Besides, what we really need is somebody that can beat Shrillary in November. Somebody that can win Independents and blue-collar Democrats like Ronald Reagan did in his two landslides. News Flash: The choice of Carly Fiorina did not help with Independents and blue-collar Democrats. I've done the math. Even if 100% of registered Republicans vote the ticket in November, we still lose. We must win over Independents and blue-collar (Reagan) Democrats.
To that point, the only reason Cruz is even where he is today is due to Donald Trump. If not for Trump jumping into the race, we'd be looking at presumptive nominee Jeb Bush. No doubt about it. That was the original GOP plan and he had all the money and establishment backing behind him.
Ted Cruz is only 44 years old and he had a bright future ahead of him. His best bet would have been to drop out of the race when it became clear he could not win fair and square and get behind Donald Trump. Maybe he could have been Trump's VP or be in some other high-level position that would set himself up nicely for future presidential runs. But he appears to have leagued himself with the establishment and the "Stop Trump" movement and has blown up the bridges behind him. He now must live with the consequences of his decisions.
Finally with regard to Trump "not being a true conservative", I'm simply going to refer back to the multiple posts made the founder of this fine site who has listed out all the conservative positions that Donald Trump has taken during this campaign - and there are many.
Will he actually follow through on these promises when he wins? I would love to find out. Trump has a record of achievement in the private sector that is very impressive and he has surrounded himself (in his businesses) with high quality people. If he does the same as president, I think we are all in for a very pleasant surprise.
One thing for sure, the lawyer-politicians we have been electing the past few decades have done great harm to this nation. I'm willing to take my chances with a successful businessman.
“One thing for sure, the lawyer-politicians we have been electing the past few decades have done great harm to this nation. I’m willing to take my chances with a successful businessman.”
Well said