Ted Cruz is probably not the first choice of most Republicans in the party. If you are reading this, maybe he’s not your first choice, your second choice, or even your sixth choice. But it’s time to accept the reality that there are basically two choices left in this election, and one of them is an ignorant, megalomaniacal would-be despot named Donald Trump. If he is going to be stopped, Ted Cruz is the only alternative we have available.

I gather that many people would have preferred someone with executive experience. I certainly would have myself, but the only person left in the field who has executive experience is over 300 delegates behind Donald Trump, and is trailing Trump in the polls in his own home state. I am sorry, Kasich fans, the math absolutely does not work.

The only way John Kasich will beat Donald Trump would be if Trump fell dead tomorrow, and maybe not even then. I think we have seen that Trump’s supporters will not leave him no matter what, and probably enough of them would vote for Donald Trump’s corpse to still deny John Kasich the nomination at this point.

Maybe you preferred someone who is a better communicator than Cruz or who stood a better chance of beating Hillary in the general. Sorry, but for whatever reason, your fellow voters have ruled each of those candidates out, and Rubio’s collapse this weekend pretty much put that nail in the coffin. It’s now a choice between guaranteed loser Donald Trump and Ted Cruz, who might actually win. Besides, even if you assume that both Cruz and Trump would lose, at least Cruz would not spend the entire general election season doing things like creating week-long controversies about whether the GOP nominee does or does not disavow the support of the KKK.

Maybe you preferred someone who didn’t have such wild-eyed, hard-edged plans that have no chance of coming true. Sorry, but the current choices are between a guy who thinks we can overturn Obamacare and implement a flat tax, and a guy who thinks he can make Mexico pay for a wall they don’t want, plus unilaterally rewrite trade agreements that are the prerogative of Congress, plus rewrite the geneva conventions, plus roll back the libel laws of all 50 states so he can sue the press… and so on.

Ted Cruz may or may not win in November. Ted Cruz may or may not be the guy you would prefer, if you had your ‘druthers. But the alternative to Ted Cruz is the complete ruination of the Republican party and thus the country as a whole.

And hey, maybe you’re the sort of person who would be fine with that result, because you’re just in the mood to watch the world burn. But the rest of us have kids and so I hope you won’t be offended if we fight you tooth and nail to the very last delegate and quite possibly beyond.