I think this is exactly right. I also think people are tired of politicians that tack one way during election time only to betray those principles once elected. Cruz's appeal to fence sitters is that he has not wavered on his positions. They understand exactly what they are getting.
If he wants to ensure he loses he abandons his consistent positions and runs to the middle.
I don’t understand why people still subscribe to the Nixon strategy of running to the right during the primaries and going to the center for the general election. That strategy may have worked for Richard Nixon in 1968 and 1972, but it’s a flawed strategy today. Whoever the GOP nominee is needs to remember that but I’m afraid that the three most likely nominees Cruz, Rubio, and Walker are going to push for increasing legal immigration to appeal to the center so as not to appear “extreme” on the issue. Just my opinion.