I don't think anything happened to him. Rather, the vetting process of the primary season has been long enough to see who he really is.
He's determined and clever (for the most part) but doesn't seem to be particularly likable.
But I think his true colors came out the further behind he got. He would go to any length to try to achieve the nomination but stayed within the rules, as much as many of us disagree with them.
in the process, he came across as manipulative and as trying to thwart the will of the primary voters. I'm not saying that he actually WANTED to circumvent voters but it gave that appearance. Nobody likes that.
I just think Cruz is being Cruz and that seems to be increasingly off putting to a lot of people.
It also could be that the establishment cut him some sort of back room deal to hang on like he's hanging on. I hope that was the case because it might make him seem less objectionable.
“I don’t think anything happened to him. Rather, the vetting process of the primary season has been long enough to see who he really is.”
I would agree. The long, drawn out primary process has done its job and vetted the candidates. Cruz’s true character was exposed for all to see: a too-clever-by-half, East coast, Ivy League lawyer (and all that implies); and a longtime, concealed but true member of the GOPe. And it exposed the fact that senators generally make poor leaders, especially first-term senators, when push comes to shove.