ScoobyDoo
NPC
Somebody pointed out the critical difference between Yates and Cruz. She is probably smarter than he is but they are in the same order of magnitude. The reason she is destroying him is she is telling the truth. It's just so, so, so much easier to be coherent and convincing when you are telling the truth. Even Bill Clinton sounded off-putting when he was lying, and he was 500 times more charming and intelligent than Ted Cruz.
Vinny: Look, maybe I could have handled the preliminary a little better, okay? I admit it. But what's most important is winning the case. I could do it. I really could. Let me tell you how, okay? The Republicans got to build a case. Building a case is like building a house. Each piece of evidence is just another building block. They wants to make a brick bunker of a building. He wants to use serious, solid-looking bricks, like, like these, right?
[puts his hand on the wall]
Bill: Right.
Vinny: Let me show you something.
[he holds up a playing card, with the face toward Billy]
Vinny: The Republicans are going to show you the bricks. They'll show you they got straight sides. They'll show you how they got the right shape. They'll show them to you in a very special way, so that they appear to have everything a brick should have. But there's one thing their not gonna show you.
[turns the card, so that its edge is toward Billy]
Vinny: When you look at the bricks from the right angle, they're as thin as this playing card. Their whole case is an illusion, a magic trick.
Quote from My Cousin Vinny edited for emphasis.