David Brooks wrote a column in the NYT about two weeks ago in which he argued that Cruz is not an insurgent, but rather a representative of an opposition establishment within the GOP. Given the amount of money that Cruz has been able to raise from large donors even in the face of intense hostility from the GOP leadership, his position makes a lot of sense.
There is good reason to believe at this point that the support of the opposition establishment could be sufficient, if things break his way, to win Cruz the nomination. Would it be adequate support for a victory in the general election? Could he actually govern without surrounding himself with figures from the traditional establishment? I don’t think this group has sufficient assets and expertise to win and exercise power by itself, which means that Cruz will have to make his peace with the leadership ASAP if he gets the nomination.