Cruz will defeat Trump on the second ballot by building a coalition, NOT having something handed to him.
How can any conservative support the joke that is Trump given his liberal values?
I think it's because the hatred for the establishment and PC culture runs so deep. Trump's supporters don't see the disaster he will be as the nominee. He has no respect for people of faith, or for people who place a high value on the importance of social issues. As a result the turnout from this part of the electorate will be down, probably more so than it was for Romney.
The GOP will give Cruz the nomination because they know Cruz will lose to Hillary Clinton, and they would rather have Clinton than Trump. Anyone that thinks the fake and fraud dominionist Cruz can win a general election is sadly mistaken. He has managed to “win” nothing in the world but 8 small caucus states where the vote was manipulated for him, Texas, where more people voted against him than for him, Ok, where he basically tied Trump in delegates, and Wisconsin where his pals the entire GOP apparatus of the state got behind him. Cruz will never see the inside of the White House as president. But what this power-mad little man will do is destroy the Republican Party if he can’t be elected, which he can’t.