9. Both Are Divisive and Intensely Disliked by an Opposing Faction
Both men have found themselves in the position of being loved in some quarters, but entirely despised in others.

Some of it is political: Obama swung the country too far Left, too fast, and involved too many end-runs around the Constitution. Meanwhile, Cruz made few friends among his colleagues by repeatedly dicking them over during his short time in the Senate, and the electorate may be just as hostile to a Cruzian swing to the Right (and the attendant “threat” to entitlements).

Some of it is wholly irrational: Obama’s arrogant, disdainful attitude sets teeth on edge. Cruz’s doughy nerdface and annoying voice activate that lizard part of the brain that says, “This kid should give me his lunch money.”

For all his (many, many) faults Obama actually has some personal appeal that Cruz manifestly lacks. An unfair but essential point for electoral politics, where so much rests on the intangibles: there is a segment of the population that will never, ever like either man.