I think, with respect, that you should also look at the political facts. The simplest fact out there is that however much you or I might like Cruz’ stance on the issues (and, I might point out, I donated to his campaign when he declared last March, so I DO like those stances, among others), that’s not going to translate into votes to any great extent outside of the conservative branch of the Republican Party. He is, as much as I like his positions, an ideologue - and those generally don’t get elected (Obama being the biggest exception to that rule).
Trump is bringing in indies and even some Dems, people who used to be called Reagan Democrats. He’s doing that because he is a nationalist, he wants to protect this country first, economically, culturally and militarily. If he does those things, then the social issues will come along for the ride eventually. The change in this nation from a generally moral country to what we are now (on average) took several decades, and NO ONE is going to fix that in a couple of terms in office. It will require a massive turn-around in the economy and our place in the world for people to understand that the traditional values that made us a great nation, a superpower, STILL WORK, and should be strengthened instead of made fun of (like the libs do).
We’re essentially on the same page, but we clearly differ on the best means to get to our common goals IN THE SHORT RUN. IMHO, Cruz can’t make it in November, not with the current climate. But let Trump be a table-setter for a real conservative, and then we’ll be cooking with gas. That, plus Cruz will have another 8 years in which to gain experience, accomplishments, favors owed to him and some gravitas (it goes with gray hair, of which he hasn’t got any yet).
Trump is, again IMHO, a necessary 2nd best - with emphasis on “necessary.” We’re in the midst of a breakdown of society, led by a bunch of academic/government theoreticians who’ve probably never nailed two pieces of wood together. They hate this country, and the results prove it. Right now we need the opposite...but people won’t swallow the diametrically opposite - they’ll take a man of real world experience who unabashedly loves his nation, and see what he’s capable of. If that works out, the public will, IMHO, be much more ready to accept the social end of the conservative policy repertoire.
YMMV, but again, I believe that we’re on the same side and only disagree as to short term means.
The question has to be how many indies and Democrats? It has been thirty years since such folks gave Reagan his landslide. That is a whole generation. Ross Perot comes to mind more than Reagan. From what I can tell from very far off in 1992(Germany), old Ross, who was was first on the scene with the issue that Trump is now basing his campaign on, found himself riding a wave that was smoking too fast for him. He seems not to have wanted to be president? Which is why his sudden(though temporary) exit in June made him look so awkward? If we could look at the makeup of his plurality in June, and his 20% in November, maybe we could have a baseline to us in analyzing Trump’s supporters.