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"donors will never trust a candidate willing to expose his own conceited nature on such a large scale.

Senator Ted Cruz ended his political career the same way he came into it, all alone."

Excellent article, thank you.

A whole lot of careers ended at that convention this week.

Ted Cruz. The Bush Family. Karl Rove. All for the best.

This article expresses it exactly - hope Cruz reads it as he contemplates the bottle of pills by his coffee....like all the others who tried subterfuge to take down Trump, he has destroyed himself instead and left Trump in a more noble position for having tendered the olive branch.

"donors will never trust a candidate willing to expose his own conceited nature on such a large scale. Senator Ted Cruz ended his political career the same way he came into it, all alone."

I will not be surprised if his wife leaves him once his political future self-destructs, and he is no longer an asset for Goldman Sachs.

What (if anything) is the most recent precedent for Cruz's performance? Has there ever been a keynote speaker at a convention, Democrat or Republican, who not only didn't endorse the nominee but who turned the speech into thinly veiled attacks on the nominee?

If Ted thinks he has a strong shot in 2020, he should think again. Even a lot of Republicans who remain wary of Trump are disgusted by Cruz's backstabbing performance and hypocritical inability to reciprocate loyalty. Only a handful of his more robotic supporters will still be on Cruz's side.

Donald graciously handed Ted a lifeline with which to save his career, then applauded as Ted proceeded to hang himself with it.

I used to think that Ted Cruz was a very smart guy. Now? Not so much.

Cruz, in his speech last night and in today’s speech/Q&A in front of the Texas delegation, said that he set a standard for his endorsement of a President - that the person in question would defend the Constitution and defend our liberties. There is nothing is wrong with that, and it is what I want to always hear from ANY candidate for office...in an absolute vacuum. But we don’t live in a vacuum. Right now, there is a binary choice between Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump - one of them will (barring a severe health problem, death or civil war touched off by Obama trying to cancel the election) be the next POTUS. There is no other choice - the primaries are OVER, we no longer have the ability to choose THE perfect candidate...now it is about stopping whomever we DISlike the most.

Cruz did recognize that simple fact in 2012 - he endorsed Mitt Romney, hardly a doctrinaire conservative and defender of the Constitution (just look at his stance on the 2nd Amendment, as just one example among many). Here’s the source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Mitt_Romney_presidential_campaign_endorsements,_2012#U.S._Senators Cruz is listed under the category of “State, Local and Territory Officials.”

Further, Cruz indicated that the Tea Party (a group founded explicitly by conservatives who value the Constitution and felt betrayed by the typical politicians running things in DC) would likely endorse Romney, with the following quote: “Conservatives will stand united in November. The stakes are too high,” Cruz said. “The Tea Party will show up en masse to support Mitt Romney.” Source: http://content.usatoday.com/communities/onpolitics/post/2012/08/ted-cruz-newsmaker-gop-convention-texas-senate/1#.V5DWsLuAOko

So what is different in 2016? Why would Cruz endorse Romney, no stalwart defender of the Constitution and our liberties, against Obama - the diametric opposite of a stalwart defender of the Consitution and our liberties? Well, because it makes sense to have done so. He recognized THEN, a mere 4 years ago, that we faced a binary choice - it would be either Romney or Obama, and “Conservatives will stand united in November. The stakes are too high.” THAT was a sensible, logical and good decision. But this election is really no different - Trump may (emphasis on “MAY”) not be the perfect defender of the Constitution and our liberties, but we as a nation face a binary choice between him and Hillary Clinton - who is a political carbon-copy of Obama, being the nearly perfect ANTI-defender of the Constitution and our liberties. Why is Cruz not endorsing Trump against Clinton, when he endorsed Romney against Obama?

The answer is simple: He’s got an ego the size of an aircraft carrier, and it is interfering with Cruz’ logic function. He’s butthurt, badly, and simply cannot rise above his own personal feelings and do what is best for this country, and fight with every fiber of his being against Clinton. That is sad and incredibly disappointing - because outside of this Presidential election season, I have been a genuine admirer of Cruz and what he has stood for (well, I’m not thrilled about his trade votes, but no one is perfect). Now I can’t be. Now he looks small, like most politicians. He looks and sounds like a walking, talking ego. THAT is not principle, that is not high-minded, that is not serving the public and defending the Constitution.

You know, not that long ago we had a Presidential election that was decided by 538 popular votes in a single state. Cruz knows that, particularly since he worked his tail off to help preserve George W. Bush’s victory (oh, and BTW, Bush was hardly the perfect defender of the Constitution that Cruz pretends to want as a candidate - but he was head and shoulders above Al Gore). He also knows that such a circumstance could happen again, and that he has a pretty large and very loyal following. He knows that many among this loyal following of his will not vote for Trump unless he gives a full-throated endorsement of Trump. So what Cruz is doing is putting this country at risk of losing a very close election, should we be in that scenario again. All because of his ego.

Unless this is some strategy cooked up between Trump and Cruz to have Cruz go through all of these machinations and then later come out with a full-throated endorsement (which I don’t think is likely), I’m done with Cruz as a possible POTUS - forever! I’ll wait and see if anyone tries to primary him in 2018, and evaluate that person (and, NO, I won’t be voting for a David Dewhurst/John Cornyn kind of candidate). Before last night, I would have reflexively voted for Cruz, but not now, not after that performance. The time for personal feelings is OVER, the time to look for a perfect or near perfect candidate is over. Now is the time to unite behind the better candidate - and Donald J. Trump is the better candidate, and will be the better POTUS, by every single measure that is important. Cruz has utterly failed to understand and implement this idea by endorsing Trump, and I cannot forgive him - because “the stakes are too high” - YOUR words, Senator Cruz, not mine.