One of Cruz’ big identity issues happens to be the very basis of his campaign. To wit, he bought The Audacity to Win in bulk and gave copies to all his staffers. That was his blueprint for winning.
If you recall, Obama purposefully kept everything vague in ‘08. He was the blank slate upon which people etched their dreams...hope and change...hope and change.
Cruz’ plan to be similarly vague hit an insurmountable snag when Trump charged out of the gate promising to build the wall. That’s a concrete plan—and it’s far more than McCain ever put up against Obama.
This and similar issues led to a series of me-too Ted moments. They were uninspiring at best.
Lately the me-too moments have devolved into simple, unvarnished Trump-hate. You see this in Cruz’ supporters, too. It’s no longer about even the vague wonderful things Cruz would do; it’s about how terrible Trump is. I’m no expert, but I doubt anyone ever won a presidential primary based on how much they hate the other guy.
That is an excellent assessment of the current state of the Cruz campaign. I have not heard one new or interesting idea for a long time. Just a lot of Trump is a disaster talk. That doesn’t win campaigns...got to have some vision as well.
I see Cruz's support as stemming from emotions. He crafted an image based on the most "conservative" stereotypes, and uses that persona to try to create "warm fuzzies" among his followers--but says little about policy or how, exactly, he's going to create this wonderful world that he's promising.
His campaign is actually very liberal in that many liberals campaign on promises of utopia, with few specifics on how they will perform in office. Liberal campaigns, too, rely on hate-mongering and avoid talking about issues. It is no wonder that Cruz is being rejected.