Cruz is being too cute by half... not as smart or appealing as he thinks he is. He’s groomed and groomed himself to pitch that perfect tone, to gesture that perfect gesture, pretending to be politically suave and domineering, hopefully to wow the conservative electorate... only to be sidelined by someone who’s not scared of being himself.
He has been a poor actor of conservatism.
Friends from Liberty University spent hours reviewing elements of his speech in Lynchburg, VA.
The consensus was that he was not genuine due to the irregularities of his eye contact, facial expressions, and gesturing inconsistent with his speech.
That is the reason he lost the entire South and the evangelical vote. They saw straight through him.
Lots of phony preachers in the South aiming to scam people of their donations to the church. Folks have grown wise to spotting the cunning deceivers.