I am heartened by their mutual admiration and support but I do not see the end game here. They cannot be on the same ticket - someone help me out.
They could be on the same ticket (you mean Ted and Donald, I think), and I’ll not be surprised if it works out that way. The VP running mate is there to draw fire, but once in office, the VP presides over the Senate and breaks any ties, or attends state funerals. He’d be no worse as a VP envoy to South America than Nixon was. And, as VP, he supports but does not form the administration’s policies.
Politically, Cruz has staked out the right territory; as a Latino, he can pull it off; he knows very well that Donald isn’t a threat to him, so he welcomes him into the race; Trump is going to stay in the race for the duration, because he’s got the cash to do it, has no reason to raise campaign cash, and has no pretext to attack Cruz (his early hits were birther nonsense; hmm, I wonder what Donald’s FR nick is?).
So far, Rubio, Bush, Perry, and others have condemned Trump’s rather inoffensive and well constructed statement (for an “oaf”, Trump is articulate on the fly) and done so along the lines of the Partisan Media Shills and La Raza types. I dont think that’s a coincidence. They don’t realize they are not making an appeal to the Great Middle when they do it.
The tragic murder of a woman in SF by a five-times-deported Mexican criminal has take a bone saw to the criticisms of Trump. The La Raza jackasses will continue to bitch, their idiot showbiz supporters will continue to bitch, but that event will prove to be the tipping point on this issue.