“Cruz can easily vary the day if conservatives unite behind him.”
Maybe, but so far it hasn’t happened.
No candidate can win with just the base.
Trump attracts a large share of the base as well as moderates and even conservative Democrats.
Cruz can carry the base and should he win the nomination he’ll also carry a lot of Republicans who aren’t rock ribbed conservatives but still vote GOP.
He won’t however pull many independents and almost zero of the Reagan Democrats.
Sorry but the numbers just don’t support that. If they did then Cruz would be leading or at least trending better. He’s not. Trump is.
He’s third place in the most recent poll from fox news. I don’t see how you can say that’s not trending. What do you think will happen once Christie, Paul and Perry drop out? Maybe some will go to Trump, but the lion’s share will go to Cruz.
As far as appealing to the other side, that’s what the man is known for, friend. You don’t become an all-star debater at Princeton, some would say best in the country, by not winning people over to your side of the argument. The man was able to get the liberals on the Supreme Court to agree with him as solicitor general on cases against Obama and the United Nations. That takes talent. This guy is more intelligent than anyone else up there except maybe Dr. Carson.
Bob ? That’s how McCain, Romney lost, not only by being the squshy middle moderate, but appealing to moderates, independents.
And that’s how Reagan won, sticking to his convictions and principles, and ? By him being persuasive and a great communicator drew in moderates, independents.
We have tried cycle after cycle of appealing to the squshy middle, it doesn’t work.
We don’t need anymore moderate campaign conservatives who are “ yes men “ on the campaign trail, only for the true nature of the beast to be seen once elected.