GOP establishment thought Trump was the ultimate nightmare. Then they got a look at Cruz.

After spending months regarding Donald Trump as the worst possible thing that could happen to their party, establishment Republicans are rethinking. Now they’re arguing over whether Ted Cruz might be worse. Some, particularly the Republican Party’s so-called intellectuals, think Trump is a menace because he’s not a true conservative. 

Yet many members of the Republican influence apparatus, especially lobbyists and political strategists, say they could work with Mr. Trump as the party’s standard-bearer, believing that he would be open to listening to them and cutting deals, and would not try to take over the party. [...]

Of course, this willingness to accommodate Mr. Trump is driven in part by the fact that few among the Republican professional class believe he would win a general election. In the minds of these Republicans, it would be better to effectively rent the party to Mr. Trump for four months this fall, through the general election, than risk turning it over to Mr. Cruz for at least four years, as either the president or the next-in-line leader for the 2020 nomination.

Another line of thinking in the “oh, God, Trump or Cruz, how can we stand it, but maybe Trump is better” sweepstakes goes as follows:

If you don't stop Cruz in Iowa, it's going to be hard for the establishment to stop either of them. Think about it -- Cruz carries Iowa, and that could catapult him to second place in New Hampshire, while Trump would remain in the catbird's seat in New Hampshire. That scenario could freeze out the establishment candidates like Marco Rubio, Jeb Bush, Chris Christie, and John Kasich. But what if Trump beats Cruz in Iowa? Well, there's more of an opening for a Rubio/Bush/Christie/Kasich to finish second in New Hampshire, strengthening the establishment going into South Carolina and beyond. Of course, if Trump wins BOTH Iowa and New Hampshire, it could be game over for the GOP nomination. But on paper, there appears to be more of an opening for the establishment if Cruz DOESN'T win in Iowa.

But ultimately all these questions over which candidate is the lesser of the two evils have dread at their center, and some Republicans aren’t bothering to pretend otherwise:

 Yet somehow the Republican Party’s supposed rising stars are losing out to shooting and poisoning.