Any logic there was to the delegate strategy Cruz honed in the week leading up to Super Super Tuesday (or whatever it’s called) has been rendered virtually irrelevant by another dominant performance by Donald Trump. Were it not for Marco Rubio and John Kasich, he might have won North Carolina, and may even have taken Illinois. Now Trump is running away with delegates, and Cruz may no longer be able to do anything about it, even if he ekes out a victory in Missouri.
He chose to deliver a speech with Missouri still up in the air. The result was a quasi-victory speech blending his usual RINO hunter routine with an effusive attempt to consolidate the supporters of Marco Rubio, who he’s spent months painting as a card-carrying member of the Washington Cartel. “To those who supported Marco, who worked so hard, we welcome you with open arms,” Cruz told his supporters in Houston. “Nobody else has any mathematical possibility whatsoever.” How could anyone resist that pitch?