I have an admission. I was a Cruz supporter. Yes, I was. I didn't get mad when he didn't win the primary - I was just looking at the demographics and figured we were in such a huge struggle against Hillary that Cruz might help with the Hispanic vote. Maybe that's where Obama was. But I think the polling data that we weren't hearing was perhaps what was driving some of that. I don't know.
I was not thinking about the deep state, just Dem vs. GOP and that was it.
But I was really upset with Cruz over his behavior at the convention. I was at that point thinking how could he do that, when we had SO much at stake - the very survival of our nation was on the line.
Election night, I was almost in disbelief over the various states as they moved to our column. (I was a full blown Trump supporter by that point.) I was almost like all those dem reporters on TV, only with the opposite reaction, euphoria. And the next morning, I felt like someone who was coming out of a cave and found that the sun still existed, the world hadn't been destroyed and we weren't all going to be living under the Hildebeast.
Some of you here are SO perceptive - I'm like - "what? oh oh- yes I see that now." I really admire all of you and your brains :-)
I went into that election favoring Cruz, too, early on. I didn’t have a lot of hope for him, it seems like there is always a designated conservative loser who gives way to the establishment-approved candidate. I was itching to break that cycle.
Along came Trump, and he didn’t need the establishment for funding and he said the right things and was great in front of a crowd. Meanwhile, Cruz seemed very wooden and had a squeaky speaking voice, and I just thought he would never catch fire and could never get elected. I think that was the correct assessment.
I hoped that he would find a way to work with Trump, and either be VP or help him get elected. Instead, Ted became very nasty, and by March or so of 2016, I was very disappointed in him, and began to dislike him very much. Many of his supporters here became insufferable. They seemed determined to bring Trump down, even if it meant the total destruction of the candidate in the general election (which it would have).
Continuing the jihad until the convention and beyond was ridiculous. I never thought I could support Ted again in anything, but he seems to have come around since the election and become one of Trump’s allies in the Senate. It is good; I think highly of Ted’s intellect, especially in legal matters, and I hope he has a long career in national politics.
The bottom line is it was always about having a candidate who would win and who, even if not perfect, would be more conservative than an establishment favorite. As it turned out, Trump has been more conservative than I expected, more than I even hoped for. It has been a miracle. I truly believe that Trump is the only Republican who could have won in 2016, and by him getting in the race, risking his wealth and his family and his “sacred honor”, he has done it out of love for this country. We owe him so much, and we have to have his back as things continue to heat up before this cold civil war is over.