Consistent Conservatism
When deciding to support a certain candidate, one should give consideration to how deeply their chosen candidate has thought about issues important to them.
There are those, like President Obama, who cannot give a coherent impromptu answer or speech because they 1) have not thought deeply enough about the issue, 2) have nor really formed a position based on that thinking or 3) have sort of thought about it, are ambivalent about the issue and just try to vomit up a word salad they think represents what people want to hear.
One can deduce whether a person really believes what he says when there is no script, no prepared remarks and no teleprompter.
The GOP frontrunner compares himself to Reagan at every turn - but I challenge anyone to go back and look at interactions between Reagan (or any solid, thoughtful conservative for that matter) and the press and compare the interchanges. Reagan came to his conservatism through deep consideration of the issues that mattered to him and that process created a confidence and a consistency not seen with Mr. Trump.
Reagan's beliefs rested at a visceral level, he was the same inside as he was on the outside. There was no need to issues corrections or clarifications after he gave an answer because he was able to speak clearly and confidently. Too many of our political class are the equivalent of a cheap chocolate Easter bunny - a hard shell on the outside and hollow on the inside.
Ted Cruz is sometimes criticized for being robotic and rote when giving answers, almost seeming to lecture - but observe him carefully in unscripted moments. He has the capacity to clearly articulate his conservatism in the same manner as did William F. Buckley. Cruz is what he is and he, like Reagan, is solid through and through.
Cruz 2016.