Ted Cruz is really the GOP establishment's last best shot at stopping Donald Trump from obliterating their party by seizing the nomination, and yet the type of gusto Cruz is inspiring was brought into relief Wednesday by Sen. Jim Risch of Idaho.
"Did I just endorse, Wolf?" Risch asked host Wolf Blitzer on CNN's "The Situation Room," after talking about how he hopes Cruz will win the GOP nomination.
“I guess it depends on your definition,” he said. [...] “Obviously, Kasich is so far behind that it’s hard for him to get the numbers. By process of elimination, that leaves you with Cruz. At this point, there’s no other option.”
Cruzmentum, anyone? In fact, most Republican senators are still sitting out the Cruz v. Trump competition. And as for heavyweight GOP donors, here's Kellyanne Conway, who heads up Cruz's lead Super PAC "Trusted Leadership," describing how the Texas senator's appeal has evolved:
“It’s not just, ‘Would you rather be shot or poisoned?’ ” she said. “Now it’s, ‘This isn’t so bad.’ ”
And she’s paid to promote Cruz—yikes. But if donors appear to be warming to Cruz, it may have nothing to do with him actually winning the nomination.
“I think stopping Donald Trump has got to be the number one goal, and to rally around Ted Cruz in these future primaries I think is important,” said billionaire GOP donor Frank VanderSloot, who backed Rubio. “But neither I nor very many of the people I know are enamored with Ted Cruz, and I think that everyone is hoping it is a brokered convention where we can have a third choice.”
Hey, if they can use Cruzmentum to check Trumpmentum and then ditch them both at the convention for someone—anyone—else, count them in!