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In a way, I’m still a Cruz fan. The idea of a smart, young constitutional conservative who fought the “Washington Cartel” by himself riding a wave of popular support to the White House is almost irresistible. I want to vote for that, damn it!

I have come to believe that Cruz was either playing that Tea Party role while double dealing from the outset, or was turned by something, be it ambition, greed, hubris or who knows what.

I wish it weren’t so. Trump is far from my ideal conservative candidate. The old Reagan charm goes down better with me than the brash showmanship of Trump. I’d like a guy who knew what the nuclear Triad was (although to be fair, does the CiC need to know that?) and he has said and done some things in the past that won’t help conservatives cozy up to him.

I do think he’s from outside the Green Zone we call the Beltway, and that in his heart he loves this country and what it enabled him to do, and that he wants the same for his grandchildren and sees it changing before they have that chance. I’m hoping that and his business smarts are enough.

So far on every policy paper he’s issued, I like what I read. I’m enough of a true believer to think that when an intelligent person turns his intellect to politics late in life, he’s going to be basically conservative, and that’s where I hope Trump is now.

I still think that my tagline is correct. With no Trump, the GOPe would have politely ignored Cruz as they crowned Jeb!