Levin was betting on Cruz as the One True Conservative in the Reagan tradition. The problem is that in Cruz "winning" this battle, he has lost his war.
Cruz may feel good about standing his ground for his principles, but he has taken himself out of viable consideration as the True Conservative of the future. His best "selfish" play was to suck it up and keep himself in play.
That's the reality that Levin will have to deal with.
-PJ
The reality, in case you have not been paying attention, is that for the last two elections, pragmatism and compromise by the Republican electorate has resulted in defeat.
Levin is not a pragmatic man and neither am I. Pragmatism says nothing, changes nothing and in fact creates the expectation by the GOP that the party will simply fall in line, no matter what they do or say.
I will not have "Here lies a pragmatic man" on my gravestone. You might as well pee on it.
Pragmatism has damaged the party and the results of that damage is what you see today.