Cruz is the GOPe point man for #NeverTrump so winning over a lot of the Cruzers will not be possible. But the good news is Trump will not need all the Cruzers to win. A lot of pissed off blue collar Ds will vote Trump too.
“His supporters are fine with being governed by someone who will try to impose his religious beliefs on us all, and make decisions that affect us, according to those beliefs.”
Stats just do not support your view. And feelings of exuberance and confidence are not enough to win elections. In spite of being up against the weakest of candidates on the Democrat side, this election will most likely still be very close. The country is divided and made up of morons who do not deserve the right to vote. But they can and will. And they will continue to impose a socialist regime on those of us who have not and never will consent to being governed this way.
The core of Cruz supporters are social conservatives who either do not buy into Trump’s claims of social conservatism, or otherwise have strong doubts. Trump does not necessarily have to pick Cruz as his VP to win Cruz supporters over, but it would definitely work if he did. Otherwise he must get them somehow.
The GOPe has failed over and over, miserably precisely because they pay lip service to conservatives to get elected and then ignore us until the next election. Many have vowed never to be used this way again.
Without social conservatives, GOP will lose. That goes for Trump as well. Without getting a huge chunk of Cruz supporters, Trump does not have the slightest chance in the general. Not even an inkling.
Of course that is doubly true for Cruz. He cannot win the general without a large majority of Trump supporters. It would be even harder for him to accomplish this.
But without uniting both camps, the election is already predetermined. And the end of this nation will come much sooner and much more painfully. Both camps need to think this through before they throw away a chance to mitigate the destruction that is about to hit.