When Ron Paul wrote himself out of the ongoing drama, no one else was written in to fill that role.
Not his fault, but Rand Paul just isn't up to it. He just doesn't inspire the same emotional response that his dad could at will.
While the Cruz character is not the same as the Ron Paul character, they both can touch a certain frequency range of voters who will respond, guaranteed.
That's the niche with Cruz's name on it.
Cruz has a following and the following now has its Cruz.
The show must go on...
Cruz’s political career died after that speech. So what good is his niche?