Ted Cruz, whose once-ascendant political career has been derailed by the perfect correlation between the number of people who have heard of him and the number of people who hate his guts, managed to plumb new depths of his own crippling mediocrity this week, issuing a public request for Donald Trump's help on the campaign trail in his re-election bid against Beto O'Rourke.

“I would certainly welcome his support, and I hope to see him in Texas,” Cruz said, making a face that he hoped would betray neither his shame nor his fear to the assembled crowd. “I think we are likely to see the president down in Texas before the election.”

Cruz allowed that while he and the president had experienced their "ups and downs" together—a statement roughly akin to saying that the Montagues and the Capulets maintained a "frosty" relationship with their children's in-laws—he has made great strides in his diligent efforts to earn the president's respect. “We’re talking to the White House every week, sometimes every day,” he explained, taking care to excise all traces of mournfulness from his tone. “I’ve been proud to lead the effort to bring Republicans together.” In less than three years, Ted Cruz has gone from Donald Trump's last remaining foil to, when that didn't work out, offering a full-throated endorsement of his archenemy's candidacy, lavishing him with praise upon request, and now, begging for his assistance, novelty plastic cowboy hat in hand.

Who knows whether Cruz's shrinking lead in the polls says more about Texas' shifting demographics, O'Rourke's spirited challenge, or Cruz's reputation among voters as a smarmy grandstander who treats service in the Senate as a temporary inconvenience in his search for a job that he deems less provincial. At this point, though, his viability as a candidate is largely a relic of his home state's overwhelming Republican majority, and even that built-in advantage might not be enough to save his job. Based on this White House phone-a-friend, it sure seems as if he knows it.

I hope Cruz elects not to invite his wife and father to the forthcoming inevitable MAGA rally, because the backstage small talk over cold cuts is going to get very uncomfortable, very fast.

Watch:

It’s Now Dawned on Trump: People Hate Him