One could make the case that a Cruz victory actually makes things easier for Trump. The establishment isn’t finished yet and two targets are tougher to hit than one.
>> One could make the case that a Cruz victory actually makes things easier for Trump.
One will make whatever case one needs to make, to justify one’s support for one’s particular candidate. :-)
Trump only has a chance of turning out the social con base in the general election if he has Cruz as his V.P. It’s doubtful he would pick Cruz as his V.P. after trashing him so much. But if Cruz wins enough delegates to keep both him and Trump under the threshold, then they would have to cut a deal to be on the same ticket. And that might be a powerful combination to win the general election, and at least satisfy Cruzites that he can advise Donald on Supreme Court justices and set himself up for a presidency later.
So the best thing might be for Cruz to continue strong through the primaries even if he can’t beat Trump in the end, because his second-place position could produce that “dream ticket.”