How Ted Cruz could capture the presidency

The operating assumption for political observers going into the 2016 election has been that Sen. Ted Cruz doesn’t stand a chance to win a general election. But now that the odds have increased of him actually being the Republican nominee, it’s worth revisiting that assumption.

There are no doubt a number of good arguments as to why Cruz would be too polarizing to win a general election, particularly given how the nation’s demographic trends favor Democrats. There’s a reason why the smart money would be betting against him. But let’s entertain an alternate possibility.