His signature issues such as building the wall, stopping illegal immigration, protecting second amendment rights, lessening the onerous tax burden and negotiating better deals with regard to trade are conservative enough for me. Until he came onto the scene, the other candidates were not even talking about most of these issues.
Ted Cruz is very well liked by most conservatives but he is toxic to most everybody else. We cannot afford to lose this election to Shrillary Clinton. While I will definitely support Cruz as nominee, I feel our chances are much better with Trump. As it stands right now, Cruz will get killed (in a general) in pretty much all the battleground states that the Republicans need in order to win the 270 EVs.
Ted Cruz is 44 years old. He will have plenty of other opportunities to run for president. Even if Trump serves two terms, Cruz will still be in his lower 50s - still a very young and vigorous age. In the meantime, he can work on his image so that when he runs again, he will gain more voters.
In my opinion, this is just not Cruz's year. Just like 1976 wasn't Reagan's year and 1960 wasn't Nixon's year. Like them, Cruz will definitely have another shot.
I appreciate your reasoned, coherent response, though I disagree with some of your conclusions.
Trump has only recently come to conservative positions on several issues, while Cruz has been a rock solid conservative for many years.
Trump is a deal maker, and I fear he will negotiate with Pelosi and Reid, rather than standing up to them.
All the polls say Cruz will beat Hillary and Trump will lose to her. I am not enamored by polls, but that is what they say at this point.
SO I will support Trump is he wins, but would prefer Cruz. I want someone I can trust, and Ted is the man!