Good morning Austin:

First, let�s get the blood circulating with the University of Wisconsin fight song.

Hook �em Badgers.

Or whatever.

The point is that, as a result of yesterday�s Wisconsin primary, it is now markedly more likely that Ted Cruz will be our next president.

He won a smashing victory over Donald Trump, and left John Kasich in the dust.

Look at this map.

Ted Cruz won Madison!

Here he was last night, describing what he called the �turning point� in the campaign.

�Three weeks ago, the media said Wisconsin was a perfect state for Donald Trump,� said Cruz.



And somehow � somehow � Cruz crushed Trump without benefit of any gender gap.

It wasn�t so much Trump�s decline, as Cruz�s rise, albeit as the anti-Trump.

From FiveThirtyEight.

�Tonight was a bad night for Hillary Clinton,� Cruz said. �It was a bad night for her in the Democratic primary and it was a really bad night for her in the Republican primary.�

He�s right. Sort of. Hillary Clinton would be a heavy favorite in a general election against Cruz, who could end up as Barry Goldwater without the half-a-century-ahead-of-his-time cool glasses.

�Ted Cruz is a guaranteed loss � he just is � in the general election,� Joe Scarborough said on Morning Joe, a redoubt of anti-Cruz sentiment.

Show me, Scarborough said, a state that Cruz can win that that loser Mitt Romney didn�t win.

Even some Cruz boosters were of a lose-with-Cruz bent.

�It�s one thing to lose an election. It�s another thing to lose your soul,� said Charlie Sykes, the remarkably temperate Wisconsin conservative talk radio host and never-Trumpist, on MSNBC last night.

A Trump nomination, he said, �would taint Republicans and the conservative movement for a generation.�

But, I�m not so sure Cruz is necessarily a lost general election cause.

Cruz can be very persuasive. He can be very skillful at presenting himself as less threatening than people think he is.

And while Clinton might win in a landslide, she also is a very flawed and vulnerable candidate.

After all, while Cruz was whomping Trump, Clinton was being whipped by a stooped and ancient Jewish socialist who thinks they still use subway tokens in his native New York.

As for the Republican nomination, Scarborough said, �Ted Cruz will never be the choice of the Republican Party. He is loathed. He is not a likeable guy.�

But, here�s the rub.

Cruz, through skillful maneuvering and big dollop of good luck, has the great virtue of having emerged mostly the reasonable, even safe, alternative to Donald Trump.

For the first time, I think, at least for the moment, he appears to be most likely candidate to be nominated in Cleveland.

It is simply a process of elimination.

With his Wisconsin loss, it is now unlikely that Trump can clinch the nomination before the convention, and, in a contested convention, Cruz has all kinds of strategic advantages (see Monday�s First Reading). And, unless Kasich storms to the fore in the upcoming Northeast and mid-Atlantic primaries, there is not really any plausible alternative.

�I�d rather be Cruz than Trump at an open convention,� Chuck Todd said on Morning Joe.

Forget about The Art of the Deal, I think Trump could find his pocket picked by Fast Teddy Cruz in Cleveland.

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Here, is some of last night and this morning�s Wisconsin Twitter stream.

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BREAKING: Ted Cruz is the projected winner of the Wisconsin GOP primary. More: https://t.co/f2pQYE2RJx #Decision2016 pic.twitter.com/xDWqpSWYJX

� NBC News (@NBCNews) April 6, 2016

Betting some significant estab money begins to flow Cruz's way after tonight�

� Nick Confessore (@nickconfessore) April 6, 2016

I guess since Cruz is now the GOP establishment's best choice against Trump, he can't run against them, so he runs against the press.

� Nick Confessore (@nickconfessore) April 6, 2016

This feels like the speech Cruz wrote to convince the GOP party elders that it is safe to hand the nomination to him in July.

� Nick Confessore (@nickconfessore) April 6, 2016

Cruz victory speech in Wisconsin praising working moms and unions members.

� Nick Confessore (@nickconfessore) April 6, 2016

Kasich's weakness is a little complicated, though. He underperformed the polls, which could mean he was hurt by strategic voting.

� Nate Cohn (@Nate_Cohn) April 6, 2016

.@TedCruz's Wisconsin Win Is The Beginning Of The End For Donald Trump: https://t.co/s95jTMCKu7 @forbesopinion

� Avik Roy (@Avik) April 6, 2016

Cruz Has Now Beaten Trump in a Majority of States Outside the South https://t.co/6N7WYvP3P2 via @WeeklyStandard #Election2016

� Psalm 118:22 (@Psalm11822) April 6, 2016

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For debate: if Cruz is the nominee Scott Walker would be a decent running mate.

� EricaGrieder (@EricaGrieder) April 5, 2016

Technically speaking Cruz would be the first Hispanic POTUS and therefore checks the "historicity" box himself https://t.co/yvCZ9UrOpj

� EricaGrieder (@EricaGrieder) April 5, 2016

Nothing against Haley but SC is an R state & Cruz doesn't need to pick a woman-nor would it be optimal strategy imo https://t.co/Dj1ltFAAZB

� EricaGrieder (@EricaGrieder) April 5, 2016

That's silly imp but If so it'd be a smart play for Walker to be running mate to the academically impeccable Cruz https://t.co/riNggCG35Y

� EricaGrieder (@EricaGrieder) April 5, 2016

That election night tradition where I re-up the Cruz Rules for those just getting woke (&apologies to everyone else) https://t.co/T0CvlbtJqS

� EricaGrieder (@EricaGrieder) April 6, 2016

Three months from now we're all gonna be sitting around like: well I personally was totally sure months ago that Cruz would be the nominee

� EricaGrieder (@EricaGrieder) April 6, 2016

EVERYONE WHO'S READ THE CRUZ RULES, IS WHO. Ahem. Excuse me. https://t.co/Gvd4BsM9uN

� EricaGrieder (@EricaGrieder) April 6, 2016

Extremely, and I'll feel no remorse, because after all: I can't actually be as insufferable as Cruz ;-D https://t.co/yiPp7xh0yr

� EricaGrieder (@EricaGrieder) April 6, 2016

@jbarro @DouthatNYT aka right about when Cruz overtook Trump in the Iowa polls�coincidence? pic.twitter.com/sxcOPAtu1k

� EricaGrieder (@EricaGrieder) April 6, 2016

Pretty sure this is first time the MSM has counted a clear Cruz win as a clear Cruz win aka @realDonaldTrump losing https://t.co/CK8OkjkLmG

� EricaGrieder (@EricaGrieder) April 6, 2016

Ted Cruz over Donald Trump is the GOP's plan to cure its gout with hepatitis.

� LOLGOP (@LOLGOP) April 6, 2016

Remember that time Cruz "shut down the government"? He'd work the rules even if Trump got 1236 (which he won't). https://t.co/AM2U0U1Si8

� EricaGrieder (@EricaGrieder) April 6, 2016

A Cruz win, but some promising signs for Trump: https://t.co/CttQbzyFpB #WIPrimary

� FiveThirtyEight (@FiveThirtyEight) April 6, 2016

Cringe-worthy moment: Cruz bragging about @LindseyGrahamSC @JebBush endorsements. Ugh.

� Michelle Malkin (@michellemalkin) April 6, 2016

A Cruz win, but some promising signs for Trump: https://t.co/CttQbzyFpB #WIPrimary

� FiveThirtyEight (@FiveThirtyEight) April 6, 2016

when ted cruz laughs i get scared.

� daniel tosh (@danieltosh) April 5, 2016

Great news tonight: GOP now on way to a perfectly normal 53-47 defeat, rather than an epic extinction event

� David Frum (@davidfrum) April 6, 2016

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Trump's gonna shoot that random guy on Fifth Avenue tomorrow. Needs to change the story.

� John Podhoretz (@jpodhoretz) April 6, 2016

Cruz could win his best share of the vote in a primary tonight. WI was good for him, but it's also about anti-Trump consolidation post-Rubio

� Nate Cohn (@Nate_Cohn) April 6, 2016

Struck by the narrowness of Cruz's strength. He's getting hammered in less populous northern and western areas pic.twitter.com/LYEm6tZ5hS

� Nate Cohn (@Nate_Cohn) April 6, 2016

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There's a way out, GOP: a Trump/Cruz unity ticket! Trust me, this will totally work! https://t.co/d98i7ibzYg

� Tom Hilton (@TVHilton) April 6, 2016

@joshtpm The conclusion I've come to is God is real and She loves Hillary Clinton.

� Jeet Heer (@HeerJeet) April 6, 2016

Genuinely can't fathom how catastrophic a scenario this is for GOP, irresolvable stalemate btw 2 most toxic, selfish candidates in the race.

� Josh Marshall (@joshtpm) April 6, 2016

Yes. With Cruz, win or lose, everyone in the party preserves their dignity. https://t.co/Kib4T6IX1e

� Matthew Yglesias (@mattyglesias) April 6, 2016

Who was saying this? I want names! https://t.co/Fm8TmpI00w pic.twitter.com/7fMpcdDPVH

� daveweigel (@daveweigel) April 5, 2016

Cruz senior adviser @JasonMillerinDC reacts to Trump's statement: "Donald's gonna Donald." (via @alanhe) pic.twitter.com/TngCymgJJB

� Sopan Deb (@SopanDeb) April 6, 2016

Fun fact: Cruz's watch party tonight is at American Serb Hall, where in 1972 Hunter S. Thompson dropped acid and covered George Wallace

� Betsy Woodruff (@woodruffbets) April 5, 2016

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