Douthat portrays Cruz, not as a convinced hard right-wing ideologue from birth, but as a grimly ambitious and charmless man who coldly embraced the GOP counterestablishment only after the regular establishment rejected him. From everything I have seen and read, this rings true, which is why I said his floor as a potential President was Richard Nixon in a post several months ago.
His dirty tricks on the campaign trail sound familiar, too. Call him Tricky Ted.