Cruz had a really good night. Having spent less than $2,000.00, Cruz got second place in Michigan ahead of John Kasich, who declared Michigan a must win state.

Cruz won Idaho as well.

As of this writing, Hawaii is still outstanding.

Marco Rubio had a terrible night with virtually no delegates won at all. If Rubio were to win Florida next week, an increasingly unlikely proposition, even those 99 delegates would not put him close to Ted Cruz. Neither Rubio nor Kasich have the delegates to take on Trump, but Ted Cruz does.

The field needs to clear for Cruz.

There are legitimate arguments against Cruz as a nominee, but there is one overriding argument for Cruz: he is winning states, even states we have all been told he would lose and could not compete in.

It is time for the field to clear. It is time for Kasich and Rubio to go. It is time for the Republican Party to rally to Ted Cruz to stop Donald Trump.

And it would be very wise for Ted Cruz to go on and make it clear he wants Marco Rubio as his running mate. Doing so would compel party unity at a time Donald Trump remains the front runner.

The call to keep Rubio and Kasich in, at this point, is really about stopping the party from uniting and fighting it out at the convention. It is, after tonight, clear that Cruz is competitive against Trump and can beat Trump even in places like Michigan.

The party must unite behind Ted Cruz now.

It is also time for Cruz supporters to start being gracious and admit they need the other candidates too.