Who will save America from Ted Cruz?

The mainstreaming of the idea of a President Cruz is just the latest alarming sign of how Trump's presence in the race has managed to define political decency down

Ted Cruz seems less crazy when compared to Donald Trump.
(Image credit: REUTERS/Chris Keane)

I love a good horse race story as much as the next political junkie. And with Texas Sen. Ted Cruz taking the lead in Iowa and putting in a solid performance in Tuesday night's big GOP presidential debate, we're bound to see plenty more horse race stories focused on what might end up being, at least in Iowa, a photo finish between Cruz and Donald Trump.

Smart liberal pundits like Jonathan Chait and Matthew Yglesias have already begun to game it out. Cruz has positioned himself as The Man Who Could Slay Trump. He's just conservative enough to become a grassroots (and especially evangelical Christian) favorite while also pilfering a decent chunk of Trump's voters. And he's just (barely) enough of a Washington establishment insider not to inspire an outright revolt by party bigwigs. Plus, he's rolling in money, with both his own campaign war chest and various super PACs, which are funded by a handful of rich right-wing donors, overflowing with cash.

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Damon Linker

Damon Linker is a senior correspondent at TheWeek.com. He is also a former contributing editor at The New Republic and the author of The Theocons and The Religious Test.