Reminds me of the Soviet Hockey Team's NHL Tour in 1976. The USSR embarrassed the best the NHL had to throw at them. To save face, the NHL had to turn to the team they hated the most: the Philadelphia Flyers. The Flyers were everything the NHL despised: anti-establishment, aggressive, and willing to fight at a second's notice.
But at that moment, the NHL had to get a result to save the reputation of the league. The Flyers duly responded, beating the living hell out of the Russian scum to the point where their gutless players refused to show up for the 2nd Period until the Flyers owner threatened to deny payment.
Trump has done up the GOP field like the CCCP against the NHL. The one man who stands in his way may well be the man the GOP leadership and their "governing wing" hates the most: Ted Cruz.
If Cruz wins in Iowa, putting a temporary halt to Trump's momentum, then it leaves the establishment with a bitter pill to swallow. The man they hate more than Obama, Clinton or even Bernie Sanders is the man they'll have to back to save them from the mess they created. Their own Broad Street Bully may well be the one they have to turn to keep from getting the curb-stomping they've been asking for after years of lying to the base.