Believe it or not, despite the extreme vitriol that has been going on I have been getting mostly positive responses back from Cruz supporters when I suggest that we need to start working together. Most already realize that Cruz is not going to get a majority of delegates before the convention. Many do not seem to realize that it will be mathematically impossible for Cruz to reach a majority in just two or three weeks.
Their big hope is that Trump will not reach a majority before the convention and on the “second ballot” that Cruz will win. Realistically, this is not going to happen, and deep down they know it. The establishment support that Cruz is currently getting will just poof, disappear once the establishment does not need him anymore. Carl Rove, Paul Ryan, Mitt Romney, Reince Priebus, Lindsay Graham, Mitch McConnell and the rest have all said repeatedly that Cruz will not get the nomination at the convention. Some have changed their tune in the last week or two, but this is complete BS. Cruz is not establishment.
Romney campaigned with Kasich in Ohio and then a couple days later he was campaigning with Cruz in Utah. In Tennessee the GOP not only wouldn’t allow Trump and Cruz supporters to be delegates, they wouldn’t even allow them in the party meeting. I know that it will be the same where I live and have been active in local politics. It will be the same all across the country. The way that convention delegates are picked has everything to do with who has been a longtime party supporter and has the deepest pockets and has almost nothing to do with which candidate they are initially obligated to support. If none of the candidates reaches a majority before the convention then the party bosses will pick the nominee. It will not be Cruz or Trump. Anyone who believes otherwise is deluding themselves.
We need to start working together now. The time for insults and bludgeoning one another is over. I am actually more guilty than most, but the tone of our efforts must change now. We need everyone on board. It no longer matters who started it, who is the smartest, most moral, or who is the most conservative. The primary is too far along. At this point everyone needs to take a hard look at the likely outcome.
The concerns of Cruz supporters must be addressed and they must be treated with courtesy and respect. Trump is going to need to give them something in return for their support. He knows this and I think that he will. In the last few days he has already signaled that he is going to be taking the high road in the future. This is a good start. He should also praise Cruz’s intellect and conservative credentials and promise to nominate him to take Scalia’s place on the Supreme Court.
Once Cruz no longer has any mathematical way to get a majority of the delegates before the convention he should acknowledge this. I pray that Cruz will come to the realization that the cabal of GOP establishment that have recently started supporting him will not be loyal at the convention. He is young, his intellect is spectacular, he played the game well, there will be other opportunities, but if the establishment is allowed to steal the nomination at the convention it will mean disaster for the country.
This just reinforces what I've been saying: if Cruz's supporters realize that he isn't going to get the 1237 delegates he needs, and that there is no way in Hell the RNC will allow him to be the nominee in a brokered convention, surely Cruz realizes this too. That brings up the question of why he's serving as the RNC's loyal attack dog. Either they offered him something in return (perhaps a promise not to back an establishment candidate in the Senate primary in TX), or he's just doing this out of spite.