Earlier this week I laid out the standard for filling Antonin Scalia’s seat on the Supreme Court.  Before that, I wrote an election follow-up concerning the leverage Christian leaders now have to advance our worldview.

It is time for those themes to converge as the most important barometer of Trump’s forthcoming presidency looms. If we’re truly looking to replace Scalia with another potential Scalia — and someone whose originalism and constitutional worldview are beyond reproach — no one more meets that threshold than Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas. (A, 97%).It may be frustrating to have to rely on a man like Trump to keep his word about something our Founding Fathers never intended to be this important in the first place, yet here we are. So while Trump’s Cabinet will soon be fully staffed by names even many political geeks won’t be able to recall in a matter of mere weeks, this initial appointment to the Supreme Court must be like Babe Ruth calling his shot.

And if Trump screws this up, it will make George W. Bush’s nomination of Harriet Miers look lucid and heroic by comparison.

There are few guarantees in this world, but if Trump wants to make sure he goes yard with this swing of the bat, all he need do is nominate Senator Cruz. The man who received the second-largest number of votes in the highest turnout Republican presidential primary ever.

Replacing Scalia with Cruz is like replacing Brett Favre with Aaron Rodgers. His legal mettle has been tested not only all the way up to the Supreme Court, when he was one of the most successful constitutional attorneys in the country. Let alone as a former clerk to Chief Justice William Rehnquist. But also the painstaking vetting he just went through while running for president.

Regardless of one’s feelings of Cruz as a presidential candidate, no one with reverence for the Constitution doubts Cruz’s qualifications — capability and ideology alike — for this gig. And he’s young enough to be a conservative cornerstone for a generation, just like Scalia once was. For example, when I polled a few thousand patriots who follow me on Twitter their thoughts regarding Cruz on the Supreme Court, 78% responded with “yes please.” The other 22% said no mainly, because they believe that could block him from ever being president.

However, with our constitutional rule of law in crisis to the point momentum for an Article V Convention of the States to save it is gathering steam, where could Cruz’s skill set be of better use than on the Supreme Court? Especially with the presidency at least 8-15 years off in the distance, if it’s still attainable for him at all. Enough with our conservative heroes languishing under the feckless leadership of the Republican Party. We need them to have real power. As a backbencher in Ditch McConnell’s, R-Ky. (F, 40%) cronyist senate, Senator Cruz has limited power. But Justice Cruz would wield real power, and he has already proven he would do so in a way that returns that power back to us — where it was always intended to be.

That’s not to say Cruz is the only person who could be our generation’s Scalia (Mike Lee, R-Utah (A, 100%) anyone?), but while there may be other candidates just as good there would be none better.

As for Cruz’s own sense of destiny, even though we’re friends I’ve never spoken to him directly about his views on being a Supreme Court justice. Mainly so I’d have plausible deniability in case this wasn’t his preferred career path. But to put it bluntly, his preferences are really beside the point. This is about the future of the country, and this appointment is imbued with an existential character that can’t be walked away from. American Exceptionalism is careening off a cultural and legal cliff, and the progressive cesspool that has become our judiciary is a major reason why.

We need the Cruz who as solicitor general of Texas successfully argued against his party’s own president, George W. Bush, in defense of national sovereignty in the Medellin case. We need the Cruz that shut down McConnell’s Senate with his Obamacare filibuster, not to mention the Cruz who called old Ditch a liar. Because that is a man that leaves little doubt he would go the distance to reel in a Supreme Court that abandoned prudence and posterity long ago.

Unlike so many of Trump’s other appointments so far, this one can’t risk being met with a shrug, laughter, confusion or irritation. It must be met with rousing applause from the good guys, and crying Jordan memes from the other guys.

It’s time to pay up, Donald.

Cruz on the Supreme Court is the safest and smartest political investment you will ever make. Plus, you’ll get him out of your hair in the Senate while you’re trying to pass your “infrastructure” program.