After routing Donald Trump on Tuesday night in Wisconsin, Cruz claimed, “We’ve got the full spectrum of the Republican Party coming together and uniting behind this campaign.” As if the notion of Cruz as a unifier weren’t dubious enough, the Texas Senator then made a reference to John F. Kennedy accepting the Democratic nomination in 1960—as an apparent dig at Trump, not Clinton.
Loosely quoting the former president, Cruz said, “I think the American people expect more from us than cries of indignation and attack. The times are too grave, the challenge too urgent, and the stakes too high to permit the customary passions of political debate.”
Cruz also extended a hand to the “independents and libertarians, and Reagan Democrats.” Whether or not those people actually voted for him is another matter. According to CNN exit polls, 42 percent of Wisconsin independents voted for Donald Trump. Cruz pulled in major support from self-identified conservatives. A combination of demographics, talk radio, and the ghost of Scott Walker primed Wisconsin for a Cruz victory, even if 35 percent of Wisconsin Republicans, when polled, said they would abandon the GOP should Cruz be on the ballot in November. So much for party unity.