But was it more than what seems to be Cruz’s innate ability to piss people off? Was there calculation behind Cruz’s non-endorsement? If there was, it was probably as follows: Cruz believes Trump will not just lose, but lose big, taking down many Republicans with him. If that’s the case, Cruz could be the one to pick up the pieces; to say to everyone that he knew from the start what a disaster Trump would be at the head of the ticket for the party. It would allow him to argue, starting on November 8, that the party needed to return to its hardcore conservative and Christian roots.

This is, of course, a high-risk strategy for anyone, but especially Cruz. A few months ago, there seemed a real possibility that Cruz could execute the first convention coup in modern times. But it never got off the ground. To pull off something like that, a candidate needs good friends in the right places — and Cruz doesn’t seem to have them.

The more cautious strategy would have been to endorse Trump as some others have done this week, because if Trump loses by a small margin, Cruz could find himself with even fewer friends in the party than he has now, as many Republicans would no doubt argue that his personal petulance and anger toward Trump contributed to a narrow loss.