Cruz sticks to his guns, but it's not 1976

Ted Cruz was Ted Cruz again last night...the firebrand Lone Star Senator again proved that his hallmark is defiance in the face of unpopularity.

This will go down well for those who still value the purity of principle - conservative principle - above everything else. Say what you want about Cruz - you can't deny the man's stubborn integrity and independence.

Problem is, this isn't 1976. Cruz and like-minded movement conservatives are taking a huge gamble: a bet that when the smoke clears from the Trump train wreck, that they'll be back in vogue with the angry GOP base.

That could turn out to be wishful thinking - even if the Trump train does become said train wreck between now and November.

The world has changed beyond recognition since Ronald Reagan took the reins of the contemporary conservative movement in his inspiring performance at the RNC in 1976. Yet like Jay Gatsby, much of the movement essentially thinks that the party's only problem is that it's not trying hard enough to repeat the past.

Cruz has now become their point man - and their ideological mooring is radio host Mark Levin, whose growing fan base among all age groups suggests that this strain of dissent is hardly a fringe viewpoint.

Trump himself will eventually take all this in stride, if he isn't already. He seems more interested in nabbing center-leaning independents and even poaching anti-establishmentarian leftists from Bernie Sanders than in securing the purist segment of the base.

That's probably because he can reasonably count on at least 70-80 percent support from them anyway at the ballot box: the lack of endorsement from the likes of Cruz and Levin doesn't mean in the least that they won't loyally close ranks behind the Republican ticket when it actually counts. It's as if he can take them for granted in much the same way establishment Democrats like Hillary have taken the black vote for granted for years.

So depending on how smart you think Trump is - and this blogger for one thinks he's much smarter than the rest of us - the whole Cruz drama last night may have been an elaborate setup. He may well have figured that Cruz is actually more useful to his cause by remaining fiercely autonomous - and drawing much criticism upon himself in the process - than if he seemed to compromise for once in his life.

Trump doesn't want to give the impression that conservatives automatically must water down their ideals and expectations to help put him in office. He needs the movement and that part of the GOP electorate to eventually converge on Mike Pence's pragmatic take right before the decisive Indiana primary on May 3: Cruz is better, yes, but go with your gut.

That's what Cruz himself effectively said last night - and he's caught hell for it.

Which gives Trump the opportunity, somewhere down the line, to play the peacemaker/unifier role by cutting "Lyin' Ted" some slack - and grudgingly endearing himself to conservatives who otherwise can't stand for him, or even stand him.