Whether or not Cruz is best suited for the presidency—and yeah, I’d take him first for the position among the alternatives right now—he’s not best suited to win the two races he needs to get there. Just comes across as oily and posturing, like a televangelist, in his delivery, and has no sense, such as Trump has a keen one, on how to connect with big numbers of average people. Cruz is also beholden to his top donors, for whom religious liberty is their single issue, so he’s even hampered on an issues point in executing his race.
Cruz’s best chance at this point is to sneak in as Trump’s veep and move up from there.
Now, IMO Trump will also have to learn (fast) not to mug so much for the camera in debates or to gratuitously go after small fry like Rand and all of that. But he is sharp—like Cruz or Carly or Ben or Bobby—with much more emotional intelligence in, again, connecting with people. In that way, he’s probably more like Christie than any of the other candidates.
Trump’s still got to learn, but he’s in a great position to have the luxury of a sizable lead while doing so.
I like Cruz a lot. I hope he gets elected. My only nit with Cruz is that he is a little over the top dramatic now and then. Not in what he says, but in how he says it. A little to much drama. But not that it would keep me from voting for him.
Thanks. 9YearLurker. I’ve been here 18 years myself, half under a different handle.
Good analysis.