Crab and Nick,
Thank you for the replies! I did not realize that the MR downwash still had that much of an effect on the horizontal tail in cruise flight, but that explanation makes complete sense. It actually explains some other things that I didn't realize I was thinking about incorrectly, such as fuselage attitude in a loss of TR thrust situation.
Would you say that the MR downwash is the dominant force on the horizontal tail in cruise? I suppose it would depend on airspeed and power, but for some reason I had previously been imagining the lift being the main factor with the MR downwash not really being a factor much beyond ETL.
Thanks again for the help! I really appreciate it.