Ted Cruz Has a Huge Math Problem

Five Thirty Eight .com ^ | 2/19/2016 | David Wasserman

[Jack Black]

Ted Cruz may have a knack for the debate stage and a disciplined, data-driven campaign, but he may also have a huge viability problem.

Cruz’s short-term dilemma has received plenty of attention: Donald Trump is on the verge of a big victory in the South Carolina Republican primary, according to most polls, and could easily capture all 50 of the Palmetto State’s delegates. And if Cruz can’t beat Trump in South Carolina — a Southern state with a large proportion of evangelical and very conservative voters, Cruz’s supposed bread and butter — what “SEC Primary” states can he win on Super Tuesday, March 1?

But Cruz also faces a longer-term, potentially more devastating math problem that has received less attention: The states that are his most natural fits — those with the highest proportions of evangelical voters — are also the least likely to award their delegates on a winner-take-all basis. In other words, Cruz’s votes may not translate into delegates nearly as efficiently as his rivals’.

[ifinnegan]

“what happens if it’s a trump candidacy or trump presidency really cannot be predicted.”

Yes.

[M. Thatcher]

I hope and pray Heidi is much better now and flourishing. That incident you mentioned troubles me. Prayers for the whole family.

Agree. I worry about their little girls, especially the oldest. Very stressed and unhappy looking.

[wardaddy]

Ted Cruz is fairly strong on ideology but he’s campaigned poorly

They’ve all been beaten by a loud shoot from the hip neophyte

And it’s killing them and their supporters and their precious egos and sense of righteousness

That’s the part I don’t like

[Fantasywriter]

We share that concern. Long before the little girl in the video tried her best to avoid contact with her father/Cruz, I noticed how troubled she looked. Something’s not right in her life. She’s too you to look so disturbed and unhappy. Perhaps when the campaign’s over, steps can be taken within the family to put things right. We can only hope and pray for that outcome, anyway.