Didn’t Rand Paul say literally three days ago that he was planning to devote “every waking hour” to defeating Trump? His staff must have put this together while he was unconscious since it’s exactly the same attack Trump has been using on Cruz since Saturday — he’s a phony and a crony, a man who sold his soul to the banksters on Wall Street for some campaign cash. All part of Rand’s master plan to advance libertarianism by helping Donald Trump defeat Ted Cruz. Wait, what?

The only way I can explain Paul 2016 continuing to attack Cruz at this stage is to guess that they now view him as Bush 2016 views Rubio, a usurper whose own chances to win must be destroyed as a consolation prize for their own guy’s pitiful failure. The best spin you can put on it is that Rand’a already thinking about 2020 and believes that if he can get back into double digits by taking back some libertarian votes from Cruz, that’s something he can point to a few years from now as a base to build on. Finish at 10-12 percent in Iowa and New Hampshire and you’ve got the makings of a future campaign. Finish at three percent, even against a crowded field, and you’ve got a bright future as Mitch McConnell’s junior partner.

Exit question: How much did it cost to make this ad, six dollars? Is that because Team Rand wanted something simple and eye-catching in a media climate that’s saturated with cookie-cutter political ads or is it because, at this point, they only have about six dollars left?