Trump v. Cruz

Click here for an article by Conor Friedersdorf at The Atlantic entitled "The Nasty Rise and Fall of Donald Trump (With the candidate flailing in the polls, some on the right are wondering if a better version of the man wouldn’t be winning. But that kinder, gentler Trump would’ve lost in the primaries)."

On the right, Ted Cruz saw back in 2010 that political conflict mattered most to a key faction of the Republican base. He was hated by colleagues in Washington, D.C. in large part because, time and again, he would shamelessly pick public fights with the GOP establishment to show off for the conservative base even when there was no substantive purpose to the fight.

Cruz’s performances won him many votes.

But he couldn’t compete with Trump, who had even less shame, and was prone to lashing out by instinct in addition to strategy.