Is Ted Cruz Done?

[PeteB]

Yes he's done, but truthfully he never had a path to nomination.

I do believe that he will win one or two states on Supertuesday and will stay until the end. If he can't be POTUS, he will want to influence the platform and policies of the candidate!

[P123]

Okay, so we all know that Ted Cruz isn't eligible to be president anyway, but bear with me for a second.

It's looking like our Canadian friend might be finishing THIRD tonight.  If Cruz can't win South Carolina, a state where over 70% of GOP voters were white evangelicals, where can he win?

Is tonight the end of Rafael Eduardo Cruz?

He'll win a few super tuesday primaries, that's pretty much it.

[Leinad]

No, he's not done, but it's close.

Trump is still facing a situation where most of the party doesn't like him. He's not conservative at all, and he's not establishment at all. I think he would lose in a two-way race vs. anyone--however, I think he'll win the more likely three-way race vs. Cruz and Rubio.

Rubio, indeed, hasn't won anything, so it's silly to call him the favorite, or even joint-favorite. Yes, the establishment lane is starting to coalesce around him, and while this is a different time than prior elections, that still means a lot. But how much? Not sure, and regardless, he'll need to start getting some wins ASAP. He can't wait until Florida to finally hit the "...-1" part of this evolving "3-2-1" strategy.

Crus will need an incredible Super Tuesday result to put him towards the nomination, and I don't think he'll get it. Devil's advocate is that he does have support from both Evangelical social conservatives and Tea Partiers--probably more so than any other candidate in recent memory. He could get some big results and outlast the others. I just think it's less than probable after this result.

I've never thought this, officially. And I don't really get pleasure from it--I'd prefer a few of the other candidates. But here it is: I hereby predict that Donald J. Trump will win the Republican nomination.

[President Johnson]

Not yet. If he's second place in Nevada, he'll be back.

[Torie]

Cruz may hang around forever, hoping that nobody gets a majority of the delegates, but Cruz has a zero path to the nomination.

[Sec. of State Superique]

Since when does a .1 loss in SC to Rubio mean he's done but being 6 points behind Cruz in NH means he's the next nominee? Lets stop this narrative that Rubio is the top dog when he's yet to win anything. Cruz will continue and keep climbing guaranteed

Although I see Cruz making lots of improvements and being able to win some states like Texas and Oklahoma, I fail to see him winning on decisive regions. Which kind of inroads can he make on Michigan,  Ohio, Wisconsin and Illinois? Those are places with a lot of delegates where Trump, Rubio and Kasich will fight for First and Second places. Cruz however won't go well there and possibly Ben Carson will always play a spoiler,  if he continues to run. 

[Joe Biden 2020]

Face it, everybody's done except for Trump.

[DS0816]

The best Ted Cruz can do is sort of mimic the 2008 results of Mike Huckabee.

[Brittain33]

Remember, Cruz's 3rd place finish came after both Trump and Rubio targeted him as their #1 competition in SC.

Trump hasn't taken on Rubio yet.

[SillyAmerican]

I forget where I read it (I think FiveThirtyEight), but Cruz is actually in a much bigger hole than it appears. Most of his best states (including TX) are proportional, whereas most of his worst states are winner take all.

This is a great point. If Trump continues to win the winner take all states, and does even half way decently in the proportional states, it's all over. Cruz taking third in a state in which he should have done well is an indication of just how much weaker he is than he'd like us to believe.