Cruz starts his shift to the middle

Ted Cruz fought his way to second place in the Republican primary as the conservative who never compromises. But already, he’s learning to stretch.

Behind closed doors, Cruz’s aides are talking about how to draw more centrist supporters as Republican rivals drop out. They have given former Jeb Bush donors access to the entire campaign leadership team. And Cruz has made overtures to Senate colleagues who despise him, praising Mitch McConnell and Marco Rubio and talking by phone with Lindsey Graham.

Teddy Cruz has not won in the South other than Texas, and the scandal-prone Nikki Haley's endorsement will hurt more than help.

Overall, the endorsements do not make much difference (except for Sessions's, Schafley's and a few others) but does tell something about the endorsers. Haley, for example, first endorsed Robot Rubio. Now it is another candidate whose nbc status is in question. She also thinks it is just wonderful to have Syrian Muslims move into her state.

I didn't mean to imply that there aren't FReepers who genuinely oppose Trump because he is not "conservative enough."

I was speaking only of the GOPe and their media & corporate supporters. For them the threat of Trump is not a question of conservatism or populism. They have embraced RINOs far less conservative then Trump and would be overjoyed by a populism that brought in an avalanche of "silent majority" voters supporting the GOPe's globalist core-principle of open-borders and "free-trade."

But Trump is appealing to and bringing in an avalanche of voters supporting an "America-First" nationalism. It is that nationalism that the GOPe and their media & corporate supporters see as such a threat to those globalist core-principles.

The above is not to say the GOPe doesn't at the same time oppose Cruz for being genuinely conservative and as such a threat to their power. But the difference is there is no open "Stop-Cruz" movement and there is an open "Stop Trump" movement. And that is due to the outspoken nationalism of Trump and the unwavering nationalism of his supporters

I get your point, but I think your math is wrong...

Delegates Count % of remaining available 1079 needed 1237

trump has 661
trump needs 576 (53.3%) <==
cruz has 406
cruz needs 831 (77.0%)
kasich has 142
kasish needs 1095 (112.9%)

I believe these corrections are accurate.

“But the difference is there is no open ‘Stop-Cruz’ movement and there is an open ‘Stop Trump’ movement.”

True. One of the more attractive things about Trump is he offends all the right people.

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