What happens to the GOP if Cruz turns out to be Goldwater 2.0?

[hopper]

I don't think Cruz would be the equivalent of Goldwater.  The country is much more polarized now.  I would say a Republican in a national election has a floor of about 45 or 46 percent, about McCain's vote share in 2008.  I think it would be slightly worse in the electoral college than 2008.  I actually think Cruz would win North Carolina, because there is a big evangelical base there, and Georgia, but possible lose Missouri and Arizona. 

I think he lose NC but win MO, AZ, and GA.

[MyRescueKittehRocks]

Cruz = Coolidge 2.0 more than Reagan 2.0

I don't think Coolidge was not an obstructionist when President like Cruz is in the US Senate.

Coolidge was a governor.

[hopper]

Cruz = Coolidge 2.0 more than Reagan 2.0

I don't think Coolidge was not an obstructionist when President like Cruz is in the US Senate.

Coolidge was a governor.

Coolidge was an obstructionist when he was governor?

[hopper]

I think Trump is more likely to be Goldwater 2.0 than Cruz is right now it looks like.

[pbrower2a]

In 1968, the "Establishment" types took back the Republican Party and won with a moderate -- Richard M. Nixon. Nixon was as Establishment as they came.

In 1976, four years after the debacle of George McGovern, Democrats nominated Jimmy Carter for President. Carter cleaved closely to Establishment positions within the Democratic Party.

The problem for the GOP Establishment is that it has largely been discredited. It tried to ally itself with extremists to win some elections with promises to impose a reactionary culture to which  the Republican Establishment was unlikely to adhere.

[MyRescueKittehRocks]

Cruz = Coolidge 2.0 more than Reagan 2.0

I don't think Coolidge was not an obstructionist when President like Cruz is in the US Senate.

Coolidge was a governor.

Coolidge was an obstructionist when he was governor?

He obstructed a strike attempted by police.