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Now we are getting somewhere!

All that you say is true, except the phony comparison to Obama.

They match characteristic by characteristic. Here are some more. Their mothers were Americans, their fathers were foreigners. They both held citizenship in other countries. Neither was well liked by their Senate colleagues. They both used "Data Analytics" to shape their message and identify likely receptive voters. They both used legal challenges to eliminate competitors. They both wrote auto-biographies before they were 50 years old.

Yes, Cruz has been interested in America since he was a kid.

As a foreign born child, this would be natural. Plus, he tells us in his book that he wasn't popular and decided to figure out and do what the popular kids did.

Maybe it was because of his father’s experiences in Cuba.

Yes, his father was a Communist revolutionary who claims to have been fooled by Castro, and now thinks that Christians should take over the world, not Communists. Look up Seven Mountains Dominionism.

Who knows what shapes people.

Well, if you have lived long enough, you identify family life as a primary molding factor. If the kids are old enough, you look at how they turned out.

He was particularly interested in the U.S. Constitution, how it works and how it has until now, kept America the greatest country in the world.

Well, if you think the Constitution kept America the greatest country in the world, how do you explain how we got to where we are? Obviously, when judges feel free to violate the clear reading of the Constitution, something is missing. I happen to believe that it was the Fear of the Lord that used to animate most of civil society. That made its formal exit in 1962.

No, he did not inherit money and proceed to do foolish things with it.

Donald and his four siblings inherited money when their father died, but that was well after Donald had turned a $1 million loan into his real estate empire. A loan that was paid back, by the way. Ted Cruz took out a $1 million dollar loan from Goldman-Sacks and CitiBank to finance his Senate campaign, and we will have to see if it has been spent on foolish things.

No, he is not a narcissist.

"Narcissistic personality disorder is a mental disorder in which people have an inflated sense of their own importance, a deep need for admiration and a lack of empathy for others." Are you sure you want to go there? As Yogi Berra used to say, "It ain't bragging if you can do it!"

People become interested in politics at different points in their life. For Ted, it was early because he wanted to help the country.

For Donald, it was at the age of almost 70 when he got tired of his 80 foot living room and his trophy wife collecting and wanted to get a really nice trophy ... like, say, the presidency.

Because Donald had NOT been interested in the constitution and politics in his life, he is now deeply over his head.

You seem to be misinformed about Donald Trump. This is Donald J. Trump in 1987, when Ted Cruz was seventeen.

What’s Next

Fortunately, I don’t know the answer, because if I did, that would take half the fun out of it.

This much I do know: it won’t be the same.

I’ve spent the first twenty years of my working life building, accumulating, and accomplishing things that many said could not be done. The biggest challenge I see over the next twenty years is to figure out some creative ways to give back some of what I’ve gotten.

I don’t just mean money, although that’s part of it. It’s easy to be generous when you’ve got a lot, and anyone who does, should be. But what I admire most are people who put themselves directly on the line. I’ve never been terribly interested in why people give, because their motivation is rarely what it seems to be, and it’s almost never pure altruism. To me, what matters is the doing, and giving time is far more valuable than just giving money.

In my life, there are two things I’ve found I’m very good at: overcoming obstacles and motivating good people to do their best work. One of the challenges ahead is how to use those skills as successfully in the service of others as I’ve done, up to now, on my own behalf.

Don’t get me wrong. I also plan to keep making deals, big deals, and right around the clock.

Trump, Donald J.; Schwartz, Tony (2009-12-18). Trump: The Art of the Deal (Kindle Locations 4242-4252). Random House Publishing Group. Kindle Edition.

Donald Trump ran for President in 2000. He lost the Reform Party nomination to Pat Buchanan. He wrote "The America We Deserve" in 2009.

Yes, Ted Cruz is articulate, can speak and can debate and he knows his stuff. I don’t see that as a bad thing.

Neither can I, especially if talk is what you are interested in doing for a living.