Cruz and the Republican dilemma

As Paul Krugman opines in today's NYT, the GOP is mostly lining up behind Ted Cruz as the most likely candidate to snatch the party's presidential nomination from The Donald.   It's not because there is much difference between them; as Lindsay Graham infamously said it's the difference between being shot and poisoned.   Rather, Cruz, despite his misogyny and crackpot economic delusions regarding the gold standard is far closer to republican orthodoxy than Trump.  The moneymen will start shoveling shortly in an effort to put Cruz over the top.  He will probably lose the general election to either Hillary or Bernie, but he will put a slightly less crazy and more reliably GOP face at the top of voters' choices.  He will continue the transfer of wealth to the top 1% without Trump's pandering to the masses.  With a heavy heart, Ted will assure us it is hurting him more than us when he tells us the Social Security cupboard is bare and benefits will have to be cut.  Meanwhile, the rest of the safety net will be shredded and the military industrial complex can look forward to a new golden age of terrorist threat spending.  Somewhere, George Orwell is weeping...