The Isolation of Ted Cruz

Senator Ted Cruz's aides creased their eyebrows and exchanged bewildered looks as their boss, who had gathered them for a motivational speech, repeatedly shouted for them to "steal the moon." Cruz detected the confusion and drew everyone around a computer screen to explain the reference, a scene from the movie "Despicable Me." It's when the film's animated protagonist–the bald, pointy-nosed Gru–unveils to his begoggled, banana-yellow Minions a plan to "pull off the crime of the century."

For the staff who recalled the anecdote, it was an endearing moment, an inside view of Cruz as a pop-culture junkie who probably watched the flick with his two young daughters. But it also served as a metaphor for Cruz's biggest weakness as he considers whether to run for president in 2016: The Tea Party's hero in Washington is increasingly seen as the super-villain of the Republican Party, anathema to Democrats, reviled by conventional pro-business Republicans and viewed warily by the independent middle.