Trump Surrogate Kevin Cramer: Ted Cruz Should Withdraw

North Dakota’s at-large Congressman Kevin Cramer made a splash at his state party’s convention earlier this month when he came out in support of presidential candidate Donald Trump, one of just nine members of Congress to do so.

Today Cramer is making headlines by calling for Trump opponent Senator Ted Cruz to pull out of the race after taking third place in New York:

A Donald Trump surrogate on Capitol Hill called on Sen. Ted Cruz to quit the presidential race, saying it’s time for GOP elites to accept the New York billionaire businessman as the party’s likely nominee.

“The only strategy for these other guys is [a contested convention in] Cleveland and that is a really poor strategy,” Rep. Kevin Cramer (R-N.D.), one of nine lawmakers who have endorsed Trump, told The Hill on Wednesday. “When I say it’s time to start referring to Trump as the presumptive nominee and start talking about him as the likely nominee, that goes for Ted Cruz and John Kasich as well.

“If Ted Cruz cares more for the party and the country than his own political ambitions, he too will refer to Trump as the presumptive nominee, step down and give us a one month, six week head start to unity,” Cramer continued. […]

“I would certainly hope that our leadership, not just in the House and Senate, but folks like Mitt Romney and like Karl Rove should start talking about him like he is going to be the nominee,” Cramer said in an interview just off the House floor.

“Whether they refer to him as the presumptive nominee or not, we should be talking about him as if he is our nominee because he is going to be our nominee. And we want to transition to the positive side sooner rather than later.”

You’ve got to hand it to Cramer. He doesn’t half-ass anything. Including presidential endorsements.

I remain disappointed in Cramer’s decision, though it’s not likely to hurt him much in his re-election bid. In polling Trump has been the top candidate in the Republican field among North Dakotans, and the Democrats put up a candidate this cycle – at the last minute – with four felonies on his record and a nude picture on the internet.

As depressing as it is, I think Cramer is probably right. It’s going to be Trump versus Hillary Clinton in 2016, and that makes me kind of sad for America.