Despite his withdrawal from the 2016 presidential field last week after getting creamed in Indiana, tricky Ted just won’t go away. Cruz has inserted himself into the crafting of the Republican party platform for this summer’s convention. Setting his sights on being the leader of the culture wars, the Texas Senator wants to be sure that his base is placated by his insertion of a provision making the banning of cross-dressing perverts from little girls rooms into the GOP platform. Note that he’s not advocating for a rejection of globalist trade deals, bankrupting foreign interventions and oversight of the predators of high finance like his wife’s employer Goldman Sachs. Cruz is also bemoaning his loss to the hated Trump and foisting off at least some blame on vanquished Marco Rubio.

As reported by CNN “Cruz campaign: We could have stopped Trump if Rubio became running mate”:

Republican officials who oppose Donald Trump as their party nominee have spent the last few days — ever since the withdrawal from the race of Sen. Ted Cruz and Ohio Gov. John Kasich — wondering if there is anything they could have done to prevent this outcome.

Top officials of the Cruz campaign are convinced there is one specific step that could have stopped Trump — and they blame Sen. Marco Rubio for not taking that step.

In early March, it became clear that Trump was well on his way to the nomination and would even likely defeat Rubio in his home state of Florida’s March 15 primary. According to several sources close to Cruz, the Cruz campaign conducted several secret polls to see what the impact would be if Rubio joined Cruz as his running mate, with Cruz at the top of the ticket.

Politico reported in March that Rubio rejected the idea of a “unity ticket.” But the sources close to Cruz and Rubio are now offering a much fuller picture of the extent of Cruz’s polling, the reasons why Rubio said no, and the resentment the Cruz people have about Rubio’s rejection of the idea.

The Cruz campaign polled in three March 15 primary states, Illinois, Missouri and North Carolina — though not in Ohio, home to Kasich, or in Florida.

They also tested the matchup in a poll in Arizona, which would hold its contest on March 22, and in Wisconsin, which would hold its primary on April 5.

What did polls suggest a Cruz-Rubio ticket would do in those states?

“Blowout,” said a source close to Cruz. “65%-35%,” with Trump losing.

Through friends and emissaries, the Cruz campaign tried to get Rubio on board.

But Cruz could not reach him on the phone, and others reported back to the Cruz campaign that Rubio did not seem interested in having a discussion about this at all.

“He went off the grid,” said a source close to Cruz. Cruz campaign officials speculated that Rubio was interested in preserving his political viability for a contested GOP convention or the 2020 race.

It’s the all too familiar howl of victimization, a lament that has replaced religion as the last refuge of a scoundrel in what remains of America. Of course Rubio wouldn’t want to play second banana to Cruz, he is an egomaniac himself otherwise he would have been content to be Jeb Bush’s running mate. Rubio is wisely staying out of the limelight and planning for 2020 while Cruz refuses to accept that he lost and just go away – much like a guy named Mitt Romney.