It's consistent with what I would have expected from Cruz. Cruz is a member of the establishment club; not a particularly popular member mind you, but a member nonetheless. For the longest time he was able to use his unpopular status to (mis)represent himself as an outsider and a lot of people bought it. Hopefully, last night has revealed that when push comes to shove (figuratively or literally), the members of the club will side with each other at all costs.
That's just how they roll...
I think it’s quite possible that Cruz intended to be an honest outsider, but was corrupted at some point.
It may be he’s still a pure conservative, but has been duped.
It’s also possible he’s like Rubio, riding the Tea Party wave to privilege with no intent of following through on arrival, but has been better at keeping the act up while supporting the “Washington Cartel” when it matters. He’d be extremely useful as a safety valve for conservative voter anger in this role.
It could be he’s the true conservative, and all the other evidence is false or misleading.
In every scenario I can see patriotic conservatives supporting Cruz at least at the outset. I sent him money before the Trump campaign started lifting rocks to expose the gunk underneath.
I don’t think Trump is perfect by any means, and he may well disappoint, but he’s sure got all the right enemies.