Donald Trump defeated Ted Cruz in the Republican Primary. He did it by capturing a large part of the Republican base that Cruz had cultivated carefully on his imagined trip to the White House. Cruz made a bold effort to punish Trump for stealing his base by denouncing him at the Republican Convention. He told the audience that his conscience would not let him vote for Trump. He was loudly booed by those who left him for Trump. It looks like Trump cannot win the general election in November on the strength of the Cruz base that he captured in the primary campaign. Cruz still imagines himself in the White House, but he will have to wait until 2020 when he will replace President Clinton. He believes that he can do that, by reclaiming the base that Trump pilfered from him, along with the more moderate Republican base, that may not show up to vote for Trump. He took his first step in that direction by announcing that he will vote for Trump in the November election. He hopes that this will appease his base that booed him when he asked them not to vote for Trump at the GOP convention. He will go after President Clinton in 2020 with his old friends and the moderate Republicans who will be more comfortable with a real Republican on the ticket.
This article describes an imaginary battle between the Cruz conscience that respected him for his bold attack on Trump at the GOP convention and the new conscience that replaced it when he announced that he would vote for Trump so that he can live in the White House in 2020. It captures some of the conflicts that many traditional Republicans feel as they prepare to vote for a Republican in November that they do not respect.
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