Your first sentence proves Sowell’s point. It is all about Cruz.
Those who have been stabbing him in the back are holding back the conservatives as a whole! That makes it NOT all about Cruz, but all about getting more conservatives in the Senate.
This is the same argument that I had earlier today on another topic: correlation does not mean causation. Yes, his actions do help him personally, but that is no proof that it is the reason for the actions.
I think Cruz is thinking long-term, flushing the DC toilet of these parasites helps him, but it just needs to be done - PERIOD. Even Sowell agrees with that point.
I think this was more of Sowell giving Cruz a warning shot that he needs to hedge his bets a little better.