American Politics

[kkck]

The republicans fell in line with Trump. Had Cruz given his opponents a really good reason, they would have fallen in line with him.
But once again: It is part of political skill to not make everybody hate you.

Rubio DID endorse Cruz. Just far too late. It isn't like Rubio wanted Trump instead of cruz. It is about doing it earlier. And Rubio's voters mostly DID go to Cruz AFTER the endorsement. Had Rubio done that before super tuesday, Cruz would probably have won, at least if Kasich had followed suit and probably even without that. It would have meant a very decisive victory on super tuesday, killing trump's hype and at least leading to a brokered convention in which they would probably have tried to extinguish trump.

They wouldn't have. It's not a thing... For the majority of the party a choice between trump and cruz was like a choice between aids and cancer. It's just not how the party worked at the time. Cruz is someone who has spent his entire career being a detestable asshole, there was NEVER an iota of a chance of him undoing that at his convenience during the primaries. Rubio, who consistently was 3rd or fourth during the race endorsing ted cruz earlier wouldn't have changed that. You can't undo decades in a few months. Saying "Well, if cruz had been likeable rather than who he has spent his entire life being then things would have been entirely different" is... I mean, I could say "Ted cruz would be able to beat godzilla in a fist fight if he was a 900 meter tall mike tyson" and it'd be just as valid.

 

[M3J]

Which brings us back to my argument: Biden did amazing work by being a candidate everyone else could fall in line with. Cruz did not manage that. If he had managed that, he would have won.
As i said, Trump getting 'almost half' of the delegate is not really such an amazing feat. The moderate candidates got more than half. Most of the time, Trump managed to get about 30% of the vote and the people who did not vote him back then were not exactly his fans.
Trump was not even able to secure more than 50% of the popular vote in this primary in which he was hyped up to be a phenomenon. Biden did that.

And Cruz could probably have done that had the rest believably fell in line with him. Him not being able to do that because he has no good connections (like biden has) to the other contestants is a political shortcoming that biden does not have.

No Biden didn't. All he had to do was be moderate and promise some things the left wanted without going too far left.

Cruz would have never managed that because not only is he disliked immensely, but republican voters wanted Trump and his open bigotry and "America first" bs, while the republican politicians thought it was better to have Trump in office over a Democrat no matter how incompetent Trump is.

I'm also pretty sure the main reason Trump lost was because of how he managed the pandemic. His incompetent handling made a lot of people realize that he is a shitty leader, and that it's better to have Biden. Otherwise no one but Trump had a chance to win the primary because of his rhetoric.

 

[shionoro]

They wouldn't have. It's not a thing... For the majority of the party a choice between trump and cruz was like a choice between aids and cancer. It's just not how the party worked at the time. Cruz is someone who has spent his entire career being a detestable asshole, there was NEVER an iota of a chance of him undoing that at his convenience during the primaries. Rubio, who consistently was 3rd or fourth during the race endorsing ted cruz earlier wouldn't have changed that. You can't undo decades in a few months. Saying "Well, if cruz had been likeable rather than who he has spent his entire life being then things would have been entirely different" is... I mean, I could say "Ted cruz would be able to beat godzilla in a fist fight if he was a 900 meter tall mike tyson" and it'd be just as valid.

As I have said before, yes, prework is also important. Which is why biden is a very capable politican, as most people, even republicans, like him and see him as a fair dealmaker.
But still: It is just factual to look at the primary election and see that the people who voted rubio spilled over to cruz after the endorsement. The problem was just that Trump was too far gone at that point. Had Rubio done that earlier, there is no reason to think that the people who voted him would not have mostly spilled to cruz, who then would have proceeded to win super tuesday.

In no scenario would the majority of people who voted Rubio spill to Trump. Even a 70/30 split would probably have been enough to beat Trump, had it happened early enough.

Rubio campaigning for Cruz in Florida would also have eased trump's very strong win there. Really, Trump's Primary run was not insanely impressive. It was impressive for a complete outsider, but his numbers were nowhere near dominant.

No Biden didn't. All he had to do was be moderate and promise some things the left wanted without going too far left.

Cruz would have never managed that because not only is he disliked immensely, but republican voters wanted Trump and his open bigotry and "America first" bs, while the republican politicians thought it was better to have Trump in office over a Democrat no matter how incompetent Trump is.

I'm also pretty sure the main reason Trump lost was because of how he managed the pandemic. His incompetent handling made a lot of people realize that he is a shitty leader, and that it's better to have Biden. Otherwise no one but Trump had a chance to win the primary because of his rhetoric.

No. If that was the case, why didn't the other moderate candidates win? Buttigieg had a better result in Iowa than Biden. Why didnt they fall in line behind him? Biden's first few results were disappointing. Even the Obama crowd was more convinced by warren and buttigieg as candidates and championed them.

Biden winning was a result of hard work, a good strategy and lifelong experience.

 

[M3J]

or he lucked out going up against two leftist candidates who were at odds with each other (or their voters anyway), few candidates who weren't popular, and few candidates who weren't as well known. He also managed to make deals, apparently, where he could get their support. Plus, the party was more in line with Biden than most other candidates, I believe.

 

[kkck]

As I have said before, yes, prework is also important. Which is why biden is a very capable politican, as most people, even republicans, like him and see him as a fair dealmaker.
But still: It is just factual to look at the primary election and see that the people who voted rubio spilled over to cruz after the endorsement. The problem was just that Trump was too far gone at that point. Had Rubio done that earlier, there is no reason to think that the people who voted him would not have mostly spilled to cruz, who then would have proceeded to win super tuesday.

In no scenario would the majority of people who voted Rubio spill to Trump. Even a 70/30 split would probably have been enough to beat Trump, had it happened early enough.

Rubio campaigning for Cruz in Florida would also have eased trump's very strong win there. Really, Trump's Primary run was not insanely impressive. It was impressive for a complete outsider, but his numbers were nowhere near dominant.


No. If that was the case, why didn't the other moderate candidates win? Buttigieg had a better result in Iowa than Biden. Why didnt they fall in line behind him? Biden's first few results were disappointing. Even the Obama crowd was more convinced by warren and buttigieg as candidates and championed them.

Biden winning was a result of hard work, a good strategy and lifelong experience.

Factual? We are talking about different states that behave differently and vote differently... Add to that by then there was polling of pretty much every state. Voters spilling over to cruz doesn't exactly work out as you suggest. Trump's polling with the republican party was pretty damn good from the get go and it was pretty clear from the get go he was easily the favorite to win.

The scenario you describe to beat trump is simply too fantastical. It implies that ted cruz could get establishment support, which he couldn't, that rubio would have dropped out pretty much from the start, which he had no reason to do at the time, that the voter split would have been insanely favorable to trump opponents... Basically for cruz to win you only needed an entirely different reality where cruz is an entirely different person where rubio also has 2020 hindsight. Cruz was, and remains, as much a pariah as trump at the time.

As for biden's primaries, he started slow but his victory became more than apparent halfway through. Which was due to the early primary states being among biden's weaker ones... Then they got to states were biden was more popular an his advantage became pretty clear reasonably early on. If the order states vote in was different then biden would have never had the appearance of not having an advantage...

 

[hokageji]

or he lucked out going up against two leftist candidates who were at odds with each other (or their voters anyway), few candidates who weren't popular, and few candidates who weren't as well known. He also managed to make deals, apparently, where he could get their support. Plus, the party was more in line with Biden than most other candidates, I believe.

Biden even managed to approach AOC and other progressives on what their requests were, he didnt just walk away from the other people of the party. After he became the nominee, everybody was inline in support, not just because beating Trump was a key. I doubt others would've done that to the same effect.

I think next election, he may decide to not run or lose in the primaries like LBJ to an extent.

 

[M3J]

Beating Trump was the key for many people though, that's mainly what made them get in line. They probably thought Bernie wouldn't have support because he was too far left.

--- Double Post Merged, Dec 28, 2020, Original Post Date: Dec 28, 2020 ---

I just remembered: Hillary's character assassination and toxic Bernie bros were a huge part of what hurt Bernie and caused him to lose. So Biden at least had shitty Bernie bros on his side as well as Hillary hating Bernie.

 

[xi0]

Biden even managed to approach AOC and other progressives on what their requests were, he didnt just walk away from the other people of the party. After he became the nominee, everybody was inline in support, not just because beating Trump was a key. I doubt others would've done that to the same effect.

I think next election, he may decide to not run or lose in the primaries like LBJ to an extent.

Lose in what primary? He's the incumbent, he would have to have a horrendous presidency for the DNC to challenge him in a primary. LBJ was only challenged in a primary due to how unpopular the Vietnam War was and how fractured the party was because of it.

Of course, choosing not to run might be more likely than that scenario, due to health reasons. That certainly parallels LBJ a bit more.

I just remembered: Hillary's character assassination and toxic Bernie bros were a huge part of what hurt Bernie and caused him to lose. So Biden at least had shitty Bernie bros on his side as well as Hillary hating Bernie.

What character assassination? You realize this "Bernie Bros" thing was largely a device used by mainstream Democrats to vilify Sander's supporters, right?

 

[M3J]

Hillary criticizing Bernie where she could.

And the Bernie bro thing is based off my observation, on Twitter, Facebook, and in real life. I supported Bernie, but I can see why a lot of people, especially women, were chased away.

 

[hokageji]

Lose in what primary? He's the incumbent, he would have to have a horrendous presidency for the DNC to challenge him in a primary. LBJ was only challenged in a primary due to how unpopular the Vietnam War was and how fractured the party was because of it.

Of course, choosing not to run might be more likely than that scenario, due to health reasons. That certainly parallels LBJ a bit more.

My point is that he is going to be a one term president and even if he decides to continue, there is a possibility he wont win. And him not running is of course in the chance the country comes out worse than better in 4 years....

 

[shionoro]

Factual? We are talking about different states that behave differently and vote differently... Add to that by then there was polling of pretty much every state. Voters spilling over to cruz doesn't exactly work out as you suggest. Trump's polling with the republican party was pretty damn good from the get go and it was pretty clear from the get go he was easily the favorite to win.

The scenario you describe to beat trump is simply too fantastical. It implies that ted cruz could get establishment support, which he couldn't, that rubio would have dropped out pretty much from the start, which he had no reason to do at the time, that the voter split would have been insanely favorable to trump opponents... Basically for cruz to win you only needed an entirely different reality where cruz is an entirely different person where rubio also has 2020 hindsight. Cruz was, and remains, as much a pariah as trump at the time.

As for biden's primaries, he started slow but his victory became more than apparent halfway through. Which was due to the early primary states being among biden's weaker ones... Then they got to states were biden was more popular an his advantage became pretty clear reasonably early on. If the order states vote in was different then biden would have never had the appearance of not having an advantage...

We can look at the different polls back then from the primary and see what happened in particular states when Rubio dropped. Mostly, about 2/3 of Rubio's voters spilled to Cruz.
The scenario i describe is the scenario that happened in the democratic primary. I do not think it is fantastical. Cruz DID get the Rubio endorsement late in his run. It isn't like Rubio wanted Trump to win (elseways why would he endorse cruz when he is behind?)

Rubio did have as much reason to Trump as someonelike Bloomberg or Buttigieg had.
At the point buttigieg dropped, he has 24 delegates. Rubio had 16. He could bank on doing well in Florida, but not much else.

Kasich had 5 delegates at that point. Klobuchar had 7. She still dropped. Both instantly endorsed Biden when they did BETTER than Rubio and Kashich.
Rubio and Kasich however ran for a far too long time, even tho it seemed clear they would not turn this around.

Cruz was the only one who had a good chance against trump. And with the 66/33 split that we saw in polling after Rubio did drop (and with no reason to believe people who vote kasich would choose trump over cruz in their majority if Kasich endorsed Cruz), the numbers simply would not look good for Trump.

--- Double Post Merged, Dec 30, 2020, Original Post Date: Dec 30, 2020 ---

I think it also depends on how biden does as president.

If he is really popular by the end of his term and feels like he is up for it, i think he will run again. An incumbent bonus is something you do not throw away lightly.
Another question would be whether they will then run with Harris or do another primary like in 2020.

If they wanted to do that, it might be best to give Harris the presidency by Biden stepping down for health reasons some time before the election.

 

[kkck]

We can look at the different polls back then from the primary and see what happened in particular states when Rubio dropped. Mostly, about 2/3 of Rubio's voters spilled to Cruz.
The scenario i describe is the scenario that happened in the democratic primary. I do not think it is fantastical. Cruz DID get the Rubio endorsement late in his run. It isn't like Rubio wanted Trump to win (elseways why would he endorse cruz when he is behind?)

Rubio did have as much reason to Trump as someonelike Bloomberg or Buttigieg had.
At the point buttigieg dropped, he has 24 delegates. Rubio had 16. He could bank on doing well in Florida, but not much else.

Kasich had 5 delegates at that point. Klobuchar had 7. She still dropped. Both instantly endorsed Biden when they did BETTER than Rubio and Kashich.
Rubio and Kasich however ran for a far too long time, even tho it seemed clear they would not turn this around.

Cruz was the only one who had a good chance against trump. And with the 66/33 split that we saw in polling after Rubio did drop (and with no reason to believe people who vote kasich would choose trump over cruz in their majority if Kasich endorsed Cruz), the numbers simply would not look good for Trump.

--- Double Post Merged, Dec 30, 2020, Original Post Date: Dec 30, 2020 ---

I think it also depends on how biden does as president.

If he is really popular by the end of his term and feels like he is up for it, i think he will run again. An incumbent bonus is something you do not throw away lightly.
Another question would be whether they will then run with Harris or do another primary like in 2020.

If they wanted to do that, it might be best to give Harris the presidency by Biden stepping down for health reasons some time before the election.

Sure, but that doesn't change that the only scenario which in what you say makes any sense (and even then not much) is for rubio to drop way earlier than he had any reason to. The republican primaries were dominated by Trump and Cruz... And mainstream republicans were actually out to stop both. It's not the same as with the democrat primaries which were relatively friendly in comparison. During the democrat primaries people dropped out relatively quickly to support biden but... This is because biden was someone whom mainstream democrats could and wanted to get behind of. Cruz just wasn't anything like that. They hate him. They loath him. For the republican party at the time a choice between trump and cruz was simply a choice between two different poisons. The party would have gladly gotten behind rubio of course but he just wasn't performing. Even rubio only eventually did endorse cruz. Cruz just wasn't more palatable to the party than trump was. Some republicans blindly choosing between cyanide and ricin doesn't change that.

 

[shionoro]

Sure, but that doesn't change that the only scenario which in what you say makes any sense (and even then not much) is for rubio to drop way earlier than he had any reason to. The republican primaries were dominated by Trump and Cruz... And mainstream republicans were actually out to stop both. It's not the same as with the democrat primaries which were relatively friendly in comparison. During the democrat primaries people dropped out relatively quickly to support biden but... This is because biden was someone whom mainstream democrats could and wanted to get behind of. Cruz just wasn't anything like that. They hate him. They loath him. For the republican party at the time a choice between trump and cruz was simply a choice between two different poisons. The party would have gladly gotten behind rubio of course but he just wasn't performing. Even rubio only eventually did endorse cruz. Cruz just wasn't more palatable to the party than trump was. Some republicans blindly choosing between cyanide and ricin doesn't change that.

Rubio had just as much reason to drop or not to drop as buttigieg had after South carolina. Again: Rubio wanted Cruz more than Trump, which is why he ultimately did endorse him even tho it was unlikely cruz would win (which, in turn, cost rubio political capital). So after seeing he was losing, he might aswell have done that earlier to actually at least be on the good side of the future nominee.
This is not just a thing about who likes whom. I am pretty sure that there would have been paths to convince Rubio and Kasich to drop earlier had Cruz been more competent in offering them positions and making a case together with them against trump in his positioning.
Part of the reason Biden was easy to endorse is because Biden did not attack anyone harshly in the field of his rivals. There was no bad blood between his campaign and the other campaigns. Cruz did go hard after Rubio at times.

And again: It is part of Biden's political skill that people can easily fall in line behind him. That was my initial point: It is hard work, before and while the primary happened, to be a person that everybody else could organically endorse.

It is not like the people who fell in line with Biden fell in line just like that. Biden was able to convince them to do so. Sanders was not able to convince warren to drop before super tuesday, even tho warren had little chance left.

Biden won this primary, which was harsher than the republican one for trump because HE was the moderate whose vote got split among a dozen people, in a far more convincing way than trump did his.

 

[kkck]

Rubio had just as much reason to drop or not to drop as buttigieg had after South carolina. Again: Rubio wanted Cruz more than Trump, which is why he ultimately did endorse him even tho it was unlikely cruz would win (which, in turn, cost rubio political capital). So after seeing he was losing, he might aswell have done that earlier to actually at least be on the good side of the future nominee.
This is not just a thing about who likes whom. I am pretty sure that there would have been paths to convince Rubio and Kasich to drop earlier had Cruz been more competent in offering them positions and making a case together with them against trump in his positioning.
Part of the reason Biden was easy to endorse is because Biden did not attack anyone harshly in the field of his rivals. There was no bad blood between his campaign and the other campaigns. Cruz did go hard after Rubio at times.

And again: It is part of Biden's political skill that people can easily fall in line behind him. That was my initial point: It is hard work, before and while the primary happened, to be a person that everybody else could organically endorse.

It is not like the people who fell in line with Biden fell in line just like that. Biden was able to convince them to do so. Sanders was not able to convince warren to drop before super tuesday, even tho warren had little chance left.

Biden won this primary, which was harsher than the republican one for trump because HE was the moderate whose vote got split among a dozen people, in a far more convincing way than trump did his.

Rubio wanted cruz more than trump... barely. You are vastly underestimating just how hated ted cruz is.

As for the bold part.. NOT A THING. I don't even know how to explain this anymore... This isn't something that just happened over the primaries. You are talking about the most hated republican politician among republicans politicians for years and years. This ship had sailed and sunk years before the 2016 primaries. Ted built his career on being a punchable turd. He got to that point by being a detestable human being (that's politics for you). For what you are suggesting to make a shred of sense... you pretty much need ted cruz to not have been ted cruz for the past 30 years. And for good measure perhaps the rest of his life as well. And maybe just not even be named ted cruz, just in case.

Also, there is another misconception you have here: Cruz is not better than trump. If anything Cruz is probably the only politician in the 2016 primaries that actually was worst than trump. EVen now I'd probably take trump over cruz... If only because cruz is actually competent.

Most primary candidates found easy to endorse because... they were pretty much on the same side and boat from the get go. It's pretty much that simple.

 

[Aeneas]

Speaking of hated and hypocritical Republicans.

 

[kkck]

That moment when democrat's rich friends are also republican's rich friends...

 

[M3J]

Speaking of hated and hypocritical Republicans.

McConnell's probably just lying to republican voters because he knows they'll believe his horseshit.

 

[shionoro]

Rubio wanted cruz more than trump... barely. You are vastly underestimating just how hated ted cruz is.

As for the bold part.. NOT A THING. I don't even know how to explain this anymore... This isn't something that just happened over the primaries. You are talking about the most hated republican politician among republicans politicians for years and years. This ship had sailed and sunk years before the 2016 primaries. Ted built his career on being a punchable turd. He got to that point by being a detestable human being (that's politics for you). For what you are suggesting to make a shred of sense... you pretty much need ted cruz to not have been ted cruz for the past 30 years. And for good measure perhaps the rest of his life as well. And maybe just not even be named ted cruz, just in case.

Also, there is another misconception you have here: Cruz is not better than trump. If anything Cruz is probably the only politician in the 2016 primaries that actually was worst than trump. EVen now I'd probably take trump over cruz... If only because cruz is actually competent.

Most primary candidates found easy to endorse because... they were pretty much on the same side and boat from the get go. It's pretty much that simple.

I never said Cruz is better than Trump. I said that if the moderate republicans banded together like in the democratic primary, they could have defeated Trump.
And it isn't like 'hate' is a good enough reason for them not to do it. They all did fall in line with Trump, even those who spoke out severely against him. It is not like they would not have done that with Cruz if he had won.

And Ted Cruz tried to gain access to Rubio https://www.nytimes.com/2015/11/02/...bio-grow-apart-as-their-ambitions-expand.html
He failed. But not because it is completely impossible for someone like ted cruz to have good relations to someone like rubio. In fact there was a point in time when they were politically relatively close and had a good working relation. It is because he personally did a bad job at strenghtening that bond.

The real divide between the two happened 2015, when both started positioning themselves for the primary. At that point and before that, Cruz and Rubio both would have had chances to have more amicable relationships to each other but expected to be the mainopponents in the primary.

That turned out to be wrong and made it harder to fight Trump later down the road. This is a mistake that Biden would never do. Biden knew his mainopponent in the primary would probably be sanders, but he never took hard stances against sanders and always tried to have amicable relations. The same is true for him and Kamala Harris, a person who Biden felt hurt by for her comment in the primary. He still did not fight back hard on this, partially because he understood he might need her later.

Cruz not being somebody the other contestants would easily endorse is not '30 years of politics gone wrong' per se. It is bad positioning for this particular primary, a kind of bad positioning biden avoided.

 

[kkck]

I never said Cruz is better than Trump. I said that if the moderate republicans banded together like in the democratic primary, they could have defeated Trump.
And it isn't like 'hate' is a good enough reason for them not to do it. They all did fall in line with Trump, even those who spoke out severely against him. It is not like they would not have done that with Cruz if he had won.

And Ted Cruz tried to gain access to Rubio https://www.nytimes.com/2015/11/02/...bio-grow-apart-as-their-ambitions-expand.html
He failed. But not because it is completely impossible for someone like ted cruz to have good relations to someone like rubio. In fact there was a point in time when they were politically relatively close and had a good working relation. It is because he personally did a bad job at strenghtening that bond.

The real divide between the two happened 2015, when both started positioning themselves for the primary. At that point and before that, Cruz and Rubio both would have had chances to have more amicable relationships to each other but expected to be the mainopponents in the primary.

That turned out to be wrong and made it harder to fight Trump later down the road. This is a mistake that Biden would never do. Biden knew his mainopponent in the primary would probably be sanders, but he never took hard stances against sanders and always tried to have amicable relations. The same is true for him and Kamala Harris, a person who Biden felt hurt by for her comment in the primary. He still did not fight back hard on this, partially because he understood he might need her later.

Cruz not being somebody the other contestants would easily endorse is not '30 years of politics gone wrong' per se. It is bad positioning for this particular primary, a kind of bad positioning biden avoided.

Sure but the context here, whether you agree with the notion or not, is that at least republicans would actually see Cruz as preferable to trump and they could have potentially made Cruz happen if they banded together. Otherwise, what even is the point of this discussion?

I mean, that is a case of Cruz failing to get an ally... And presumably even one of the more accessible mainstream republicans for him at that. Him almost getting good relations with one of the more accessible republicans for him at that point doesn't exactly make your case.

You are underestimating the hatred cruz' fellow republicans feel for him. But sure, hatred alone is not enough of a reason. But that gets us to the real context here: Establishment republicans did not see cruz as a meaningful improvement over trump. Ted cruz is a hateable turd that has been reviled by mainstream republicans for years and years. The problem once rubio left is not a lack of unity on the party, it's that there simply wasn't anyone to unite against. There was nothing to gain for the party in uniting cruz to defeat trump. cruz isn't one of them, never has been and probably will never be one of them. Even for republicans choosing between trump and cruz is basically choosing between a turd sandwich and a shit sandwich.

 

[shionoro]

Sure but the context here, whether you agree with the notion or not, is that at least republicans would actually see Cruz as preferable to trump and they could have potentially made Cruz happen if they banded together. Otherwise, what even is the point of this discussion?

I mean, that is a case of Cruz failing to get an ally... And presumably even one of the more accessible mainstream republicans for him at that. Him almost getting good relations with one of the more accessible republicans for him at that point doesn't exactly make your case.

You are underestimating the hatred cruz' fellow republicans feel for him. But sure, hatred alone is not enough of a reason. But that gets us to the real context here: Establishment republicans did not see cruz as a meaningful improvement over trump. Ted cruz is a hateable turd that has been reviled by mainstream republicans for years and years. The problem once rubio left is not a lack of unity on the party, it's that there simply wasn't anyone to unite against. There was nothing to gain for the party in uniting cruz to defeat trump. cruz isn't one of them, never has been and probably will never be one of them. Even for republicans choosing between trump and cruz is basically choosing between a turd sandwich and a shit sandwich.

It is an example of , at some point, Rubio being interested in pursuing a relationship with Cruz. But that would contradict your idea that it is completely impossible for someone like ted cruz to get someone like Rubio to endorse him.
Whether somebody is hateable is not insanely relevant in politics. It depends on what that translates to. If you are a republican and hate ted cruz, but cruz makes a very good pitch to you for something that benefits you, just like trump does, you are probably going to accept his pitch. Cruz was a hateable man before, yet, at some point, Rubio and Cruz were mutually interested into each other.

You say there was nothing to gain. Yet, then why endorse cruz in the first place? And why did Kasich and Cruz do a mutual pact to cede primaries to the other?
It was half assed, but still, you do not just do a political endorsement if you do not care, because you are weakening your standing in the party by this if you lose.
Kamala Harris quickly endorsing Biden after she stepped down enabled her to become VP. Had she endorsed Sanders, she would not have got into the cabinet. The same is true for buttigieg. Rubio getting on the bad side of the trump crowd is a move that does not benefit him. If Rubio did not want to see Cruz significantly more than trump (no matter personal sympathy), he would not have done that.

One reason Rubio gave for not endorsing Cruz more (to aides, not to the public) was that he did not want to help trump with the narrative of 'two senators banding together against trump'. But, since trump very likely won at that point already, that also obviously prevents more damage to rubio if he endorses cruz in some alliance and still they lose.
But that all still does not change that Rubio wanted a person like Cruz significantly more than a person like Trump.
It also does not change that a killer pitch is a killer pitch. If Someone like Kasich could decide whether he wants to lose to trump and be out of the spotlight because the party gets taken over by trump#s army or whether he can work in a cabinet spot or another important spot in a cruz government, he would decide for the latter.
It is political skill to convince an opponent who does not want to concede with a pitch like that, and a more competent cruz could have done that, just like biden did. No matter how much they hate him.

Biden was able to instantly make people like yang endorse him, even tho yang is farther away in policy matters to biden than to sanders.

Ted Cruz might be bad at this game, but if Joe Biden was not very, very good at this game, he would likely have faced a brokered convention or, in worst case, even lost to Sanders.

But you could ask all the questions you asked before about biden too. Why would Buttigieg and Klobuchar stop their run and endorse biden? They could have gone on, they had more delegates than kasich and rubio at that point. They did not do that because they love biden so much. At least as far as buttigieg is concerned, he got something back for that (and proceeded to campaign for biden in the general).
Why did challengers like Yang and harris endorse biden? I don't know what he did, but his campaign surely approached them with a good pitch.

As i said: A marco rubio who thinks that he lost but could be VP under Cruz for a later run woudl certainly decide for that rather than to have trump win and have the party taken over by the trump army. And it was the lack of political skill of ted cruz to make him see that vision, while biden was able to make someone like harris or buttigieg see what is in for them and that it can succeed.