Cruz? I don't find the proposition tenable, that he believes he is qualified. He is an exceptionally skilled lawyer, and he has enough savvy to test his assumptions on important questions. Plus, he seems to be "accidentally" hiding (or not fully and forthrightly disclosing) more than his birthplace.
But, I will concede that you may be right. That on this issue he really didn't recall or associate any legal significance to being born in Canada and living there for his first four years. I have no doubt he considers himself 100% American, and I see him as 100% American - same way I see naturalized citizens.
I mean a moral blind spot.
He could have been hoping to tunnel through with the trend that Obama opened.
This gets to issues of philosophy and strategy. In philosophy it’s bad to try to ride along with the rule of men. That’s fickle at best and makes you a bad example. In strategy he might have misunderestimated the skulduggery of Democrats.
In his very faith, however, he also has the basis to correct the blind spot. It would be a different matter than encountering it in a rank unbeliever. Cruz has someone to repent to. A rank unbeliever, while remaining so, does not.