Trump is doing it because it’s what Trump does and always has done. He’s like a teenage girl: “You can’t be my friend if you’re gonna be her friend.” Just look at how Trump reacted to Bob Vander Plaats’ endorsement of Ted Cruz; Trump vilified him because he thought he had bought Vander Plaats.
All that you say about Trump may very well be true. But I come back to my points:
1) Trump isn’t doing it to be mean... he’s doing it to win.
2) If Cruz can overcome, then he will be battle hardened for the general election.
3) If Cruz can’t even convince enough Republicans to reject Trump’s attack, then how can he possibly win a general election?
And #3 is really the bottom line. For all those who see Trump as a Democrat... if *any* Republican can’t beat a Democrat in the Republican primary, then the country is already toast.
The other possibility is that Trump is not as much of a Democrat as some people think. And if he takes the nomination, I pray for that possibility, because I rightly don’t know how pliable his convictions are.
But I will give him these points of credit:
1) He knows how to play hardball to win (which the Republicans sorely need)
2) He relishes political incorrectness (which the country sorely needs)
3) His strategy and tactics are very unconventional, but have produced amazing results for his campaign (any successful Republican will need such a trait).