Eva, of all the replies on this thread yours is at least dealing with the actual issue that either candidate will face: flipping enough states from Blue to Red to get to 270 electoral votes.
Mitt Romney only got to 206.
If one assumes that either man would carry all the states that Romney carried, then you need to find 64 more Electoral Votes somewhere.
Florida is one obvious place to start, with 29. Trump did very well in Florida. Could either Cruz or Trump flip Florida Red? I would say Trump has a lot better chance.
I see the Great Lakes region as the big battleground this time, as it has been so many times in the past. Ohio, Michigan, Wisconsin ane Pennsylvania between them have 73 votes. Win them all and you don't need Florida, win Florida and any three of the four will get you there.
Again, who has greater appeal in those States? Kasich won Ohio, with Trump a respectable 2nd. Cruz won Wisconsin (the smallest prize of the four), with Trump in 2nd. Trump won Michigan and looks likely to win Pennsylvania.
And of course general electorates are less conservative than GOP primary voters, and seem less likely to reward Cruz's hard-core conservatism.
My take is that Trump's strong anti-free-trade positions, and slightly more moderate social positions might be pretty attractive to these so-called "Rust Belt" states, and give him a real chance to get to 270 in the Electoral College.
I think Cruz's appeal is stronger in the Red State strongholds.