I understand your position.
To your and my defense, I never would have predicted the relentless attacks on Trump. I don’t think I have ever seen a party cannibalize it’s own front-runner. So I did not consider running until it became a potential (and now actual) problem.
I don’t know who you are supporting, but I think it is outrageous that a party that has been dying on the vine for the past 8 years or longer would sabotage the campaign of the front-runner—whoever that is. I also firmly believe that the GOPe will not allow Cruz to be the nominee if Cruz is the outsider that he is touted to be.
Then all this other stuff came down, and I lost them (on the Heidi Cruz picture, for what it's worth). They're going to sit this one out, and say they know a lot of folks who are going to do the same. I think a lot of Republicans are genuinely terrified that Trump is not only going to lose the election, but will be toxic to Republicans trying to maintain control of Congress.
Maybe I'm an optimist, but I think if he's the nominee, there's a chance that he'll maybe stay off Twitter, listen a bit more to some folks with cooler heads, and not be a complete disaster. If Cruz wins it, fine. I can live with that because I think the anti-Trump sentiment among voters is legitimate and deserves to be recognized.
But I just can't go for someone other than those two, as much as I wish they weren't the leaders. And I think the sentiment that it would just be wrong (and heavily damage the party) to nominate someone other than Trump or Cruz will be strong enough to keep one of those guys as the nominee.