Worst of all was the debate. He lost an excellent opportunity. After the initial question could have opened with:
"I'm not here to talk about Donald Trump. I'm here to present my optimistic vision for America's future, and I want to inform the voters of Iowa and the rest of the nation how I will lead us to that vision."
I would have been strong and powerful and mature, not second fiddle, a chance to steal the stage and set things up for a dominating performance.
Instead, he made the lame joke pretending to be Trump, feeding the narrative that Trump was winning a debate he wasn't even at.
You make a good point. Ted Cruz had the opportunity to get his message out at the debate and he flubbed it. Now he’s reduced to sending out shaming letters to Iowa citizens. Sounds desperate.