Ted Cruz one of the few willing to stand up to Trump

Ruben Navarette:

Don’t get it twisted, Cruz haters. The Texas senator is a straight-up hero.

When Ted Cruz accepted the invitation to speak at the Republican National Convention, and then refused to endorse Donald Trump — only going so far as to urge delegates to “vote your conscience” —members of the Trump family and many pundits accused Cruz of putting himself before the party.

Baloney. What the senator really did was inject decency, standards and integrity into a GOP nominating process that has abandoned all three in the rush to provide a united front against presumptive Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton.

Also, this wasn’t Trump’s convention. It belonged to the Republican Party, and that’s who Cruz was addressing.

So what if Cruz isn’t falling in line like former Texas Gov. Rick Perry, who not long ago called Trump a “cancer” on the GOP but now supports Trump. Or like House Speaker Paul Ryan, who said Trump’s accusation that a U.S.-born Latino judge couldn’t be impartial because of his ethnicity was the “textbook definition” of racism but now supports Trump. Or like New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, who described Trump’s plan to ban Muslims as “the kind of thing that people say when they have no experience and don’t know what they’re talking about” and now waits on Trump like a butler. Or like Indiana Gov. Mike Pence, who in May said he didn’t intend to vote for Trump in the Indiana primary but now calls him a “good man” and serves as his running mate.

That’s not how Cruz rolls. As the senator told angry members of the Texas delegation the day after the speech, he is not a “servile puppy dog” that is eager to please.

Good. We already have enough people like that in politics.
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Political observers say the senator destroyed his chances of being the nominee in 2020 and that he may have put his current job in jeopardy if Texas Republicans run someone against him in two years.

More baloney. By adhering to his principles and refusing to fall in line behind Trump, Cruz is now the new national leader of a constituency that was crying out for someone to carry the mantle: “Real Republicans Who Are ‘Never Trump.’ ”
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There is more.

There have been several political obituaries for Ted Cruz since he was first elected and to date, he has come out stronger than before.  To his supporters, and they are many, he came across as a profile in courage.

During his speech, while the media was focusing on the Trump supporters who had been told to boo him, His own supporters were enthusiastic about the speech and emotionally attached to his message.  In his first public appearance after the speech, he was warmly received and cheered at a large gathering for a candidate he was supporting in Georgia.

Those lining up to primary him in Texas are very likely to be disappointed and wasting someone else's money.

BTW, How many political obits were written about Trump during this campaign?  I think Don Suber wrote a book filled with predictions of Trump's demise.  I suspect that the same may be done for Cruz who is a much smarter guy, who stands up to Washington and Trump.