[nopardons]

First and foremost, Trump is an old fashioned man, a PATRIOT, who finally had had enough, had enough money, ego, and contacts to allow him to do what many people, without some or all of that have often thought or said: "I CAN DO A BETTER JOB OF IT THAN ALL OF THESE DAMNED LOSERS!", so he threw his hat into the ring.

OTOH, Cruz has always been extremely ambitious, greedy for power, money, and fame he imagined is due him. He never has had any patience and he IS the actor, not Trump! Trump just has an oversized persona; what you see is what he is; well, partially, because he wears many hats and behaves differently in different situations. He doesn't need the trappings of the presidency to BE somebody.

[TheConservativeBanker]

I don’t disagree with anything you say. However, my point is that Trump understands the role of theater in politics (as did Reagan). I much prefer Trump to Cruz for some of the same reasons as yours. But, I also like them as a team.