How do you envisage a Cruz vs. Hillary GE campaign?

[Ronnie]

I know we all like to imagine the prospect of Trump and Hillary going at each other's necks, but I don't see a lot of discussion about a potential Cruz vs. Hillary campaign, perhaps because his odds of being nominated seemed quite low until recently.  My take is that, while I don't think it would be quite as ugly as a contest that involves Trump, as Cruz probably wouldn't go places that Trump gleefully would, I still see both sides making scorched-earth tactics a centerpiece of their bids.  Cruz and Republican Super PACs would likely engage in a character assassination campaign against Hillary, insinuating that she committed treason with Benghazi-gate and email-gate, while Hillary and her allies would paint Cruz as a dangerous menace.  On the substantive front, I see Cruz emphasizing some of the populist themes that Trump underscored, such as trade, while Hillary would perhaps tiptoe to the center after she vanquishes Bernie, who pulled her a bit outside her political comfort zone.

Anyway, thoughts?

[JRoby]

his only hope would be a Clinton indictment on the emails or some other kind of scandal.

Otherwise he would start out with a deficit against Clinton and never make it up. I cant think of any states that Cruz would bring to the table plus the 206 EVs Romney already got. his base is too small, he is too ideological, and he is personally just too unlikable to win.

The guy couldn't even seal the deal with evangelicals down here in the South, how the hell will he be able to convince swing voters to listen to him?

[Democratic Cynicalism]

It's tricky. Cruz would be the most right-wing candidate since Goldwater, and is a wildly unpopular Senator even within his own ranks.

Under normal circumstances though, I feel like he'd be competitive against Clinton; a very unpopular candidate herself, favorables/unfavorables comparable with his, an economy possibly faltering again later in the year, and the Democrats aiming for 12 consecutive years.

However, Cruz's only path to the nomination at this stage comes via a contested convention, an undignified floor fight, presumably some unsavory scenes inside and out, resulting in him walking around with an orange-haired monkey on his back for the whole general campaign. He'd need to pivot to the center a great deal, and absolutely nothing about this man suggests he's even remotely capable of that.

[Beefalow and the Consumer]

Cruz's strength would come from:
1. A frenzied Evangelical base convinced that a "real conservative" will finally invigorate the silent moral majority and win back America from decadence and decay
2. The rest of the Right and Western libertarians who are utterly opposed to Hillary and would rather vote Genghis Khan into office
3. The fact that Sanders supporters would stay home because they view Hillary Clinton as a corrupt she-devil who stole the election with the help of big money and the media.

However.

Cruz is so scary, so far to the right, so outside the mainstream in every possible way, that independents across the country would line up around the block to vote against him.  Clinton's negatives cannot possibly overcome Cruz's.  If he were up against a strong Democratic nominee, it would be a walkover.  There will be some amount of drama because of Clinton's weaknesses, but I still have no doubt Clinton will win all of the battleground states.  The idea of Ted Cruz winning Ohio, Florida, Colorado, Iowa, Virginia, or Wisconsin is just laughable.