"It's hard to talk to Trump people, from a persuasion standpoint," said Cuccinelli diplomatically, as he waited for election results to come in from Cruz's party at a Las Vegas YMCA.

The rise of Donald Trump has baffled the so-called establishment of the Republican Party. It's become just as confounding to the libertarians, conservatives and "constitutionalists," who used to be called the "tea party." While Cruz had spent the days before these caucuses pre-spinning a loss, the size of the Trump victory challenged notions about who, exactly, was a conservative.

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"One thing I've learned about Nevada is that you're very angry," said Glenn Beck, one of Cruz's warm-up speakers. "You're very frustrated."

Sal Russo, the longtime Republican strategist who co-founded the Tea Party Express PAC in 2009, came to Nevada to back Cruz. He used some downtime to attend Trump's Monday night rally on the Strip, which packed nearly 10,000 people into an arena, eight times more than had ever attended a Cruz rally in the state.

"I've been to a lot of rallies," said Russo. "I've never seen anything like this one. He would say something -- 'punch that guy in the face!' -- and the veins would be popping out of people's necks."

Cruz, by contrast, never seemed to catch fire in a state that he worked harder than any candidate. He organized here early, and muscled out Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) in the battle for libertarian-minded rural voters. On Sunday, he flew immediately to the state from South Carolina and set out on nine crowded campaign stops. At three of them he was introduced by lengthy remarks from Beck, a Mormon convert who drew cheers at the mention of his faith.

But the speedbumps were hard to miss. Cruz spent Sunday night and Monday morning dealing with the fallout of Rick Tyler, his communications director, sharing a video of Rubio apparently mocking the Bible. The video's caption was doctored; Cruz asked Tyler to resign. That overshadowed what could have been a disappointing Rubio quest for second place, in a state that the Florida senator -- who lived in Nevada as a child -- once hoped to win.

Even when it was rolling, the Cruz roadshow had a slapdash feel. It recycled video endorsements from Iowa, with libertarian activists from two time zones away making the case for Cruz. One video even ended with the slogan “people of Iowa, it is time to believe again." In Carson City, when Attorney General Adam Laxalt needed to stall for Cruz’s arrival, he spoke until he ran out of topics, then announced a “short video” – and the audience groaned.

Cruz's stump speech, as tight as Trump's is stream-of-consciousness, changed only a little for Nevada. In a TV ad, and in speeches, Cruz promised to hand over the 85 percent of Nevada land owned by the federal government over to the state. It drew applause – and some protesters – but did not move votes. In early results, Cruz did not fare much better in rural Nevada than he fared in Clark County.

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That frustrated Cruz supporters like Doug Whalen, 49, the campaign chairman in Las Vegas, who had rallied with Cliven Bundy at his 2014 protest of the Bureau of Land Management.

"People blindly follow Trump," suggested Whalen. "I'm a small businessman, and I've seen the lies he tells. But a lot of people don't see it. I really thought more people would connect with the land issue."

Only toward the end of his Nevada blitz did Cruz discover a potent narrative. He began reminding audiences of the 2014 midterms, when Republicans won back the Nevada legislature, only to pass a tax hike.

“The people of Nevada have some experience with politicians who say one thing and do another,” Cruz said at his final rally, in Carson City. “If you look at our state leadership team, almost every one of them voted against the tax increase.”

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At his election night party, Cruz streamlined his speech and even changed up its setting. In the last three states, Cruz had closed out the race in front of a backdrop of high-profile endorsers. In Nevada, he stood with young campaign staffers. He congratulated Donald Trump -- just two people clapped -- then did what he had been reluctant to do in interviews this week. He predicted a victory in Texas, the state he couldn't "wait to get home" to.

As the party ended, Texas Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick (R) doubled down then tripled down on the Texas promise.

"Texas will reward Ted Cruz," he said. "One thing the mainstream media hasn't done a good job of covering is that early voting has started already. By the time the Trumpster finds Texas, half of the votes may well have been cast."

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It was in Texas, in 2o12, that Cruz first perfected his message of "both parties" in Washington posing the same threat to America. That was long before the narrow-casting, lane-conquering messaging that had fallen short in Nevada. In Texas, said Patrick, Cruz would start winning again.