Cruz may be a FR favorite, but he’s just another guy in the political peloton right now.
He does have lots of dough, and I tab him as one to go the distance along with Jeb and Trump.
A very salient point, and one I tried to make on FR the two previous election cycles. FR, and other political sites (Conservative and Liberal) cater to a small cadre of people truly interested in politics. This means that essentially the types of candidates preferred in such websites may tend away from what is preferred by the wider public.
For instance, on FR Ted Cruz leads. In DU Bernie Sanders leads.
But when you look at the wider political spectrum, Cruz and Sanders are not near the top. Why? Because FR, DU, and other political websites are closed-loop systems, and essentially you end up with an environment that is different from what is out there.
Which in our case is unfortunate. Cruz will not get the time of day, Trump will continue to lead until he inevitably falls off, and you'll see Jeb Bush become the nominee. Jeb will run against Hillary and he'll lose. Hillary becomes president and continues Obama's work.
Don't believe me? Simply look at the last two election cycles. For example, in the last one, virtually every Republican spent some time at the top of the heap, only for Romney to come up near the end (just in time to become the nominee), and then go forward to lose to Obama.
Anyway, at least the debates will be interesting (since it appears that's what they are ...entertainment). Cruz will not be the nominee, and neither will Trump. The GOPe will have its way, and Hillary will eventually win.
I wish someone could prove me wrong, but I doubt it.