Getting desperate in crunch time, Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) and Ohio Gov. John Kasich pooled resources to deprive real estate tycoon Donald Trump of the 1,237 magic delegate number to win the GOP nomination. Sinking in the polls and faced with a slew of primary defeats this week, Cruz and Kasich announced their last-ditch strategy to defeat Trump. Kasich agreed to let Cruz run by himself in Indiana, hoping to pick up the Ohio governor’s votes to better compete in the May 3 Indiana GOP primary. Cruz agreed to let Kasich run unopposed in Oregon May 17 and New Mexico June 7. Both candidates’ unprecedented gambit could backfire, handing Trump even bigger wins in the disputed states. Cruz and Kasich have no mathematical way to the magic number, now resorting to subterfuge to beat Trump. Voters watching the dirty tricks closely could eventually revolt.
Cruz has 559 delegates to date, despite peeling off scores of delegates from numerous states after Trump’s big win in New York’s April 19. Despite holding only 148 delegates to Trump’s 845, Kasich announced vetting VP candidates. Kasich’s strategy runs against the Republican National Committees Rules Committee, expressly prohibiting a candidate winning the nomination without majorities in at least eight states. Since winning his home state of Ohio March 15 by allowing Democrats to crossover and vote against Trump, Kasich has won exactly 3 delegates. Kasich barely won his home state, winning only three more delegates in New York. Prohibited from running at a brokered convention due to the Ron Paul Rule, Kasich has a tough sell knowing he’s won virtually no primaries. Contending he’d run best against Democratic front-runner former Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton is preposterous.
Knowing that Kasich as won virtually nothing but remains in the race to play spoiler won’t give him any argument in Cleveland at the Republican National Convention July 18. “Having Donald Trump at the top of the ticket in November would be a sure disaster for the Republicans,” said Cruz’s campaign manager Jeff Roe. Roe offers zero proof that Cruz, an extreme right wing Republican, would run any better than Trump. Winning far less delegate-rich states, virtually none in the Northeast or Mid-Atlantic, assure that Cruz, not Trump, would lose by a landslide to Clinton. Unlike Cruz, Trump has strong appeal to crossover Democrats and independents, both group remain skeptical of Hillary. “Not only would Trump get blown out by Clinton or Sanders, but having him as our nominee would set the Party back a generation,” said Roe. Roe refers not to the GOP but the conservative movement.
Cruz correctly points out that Trump isn’t a true conservative having supported and voted for Democratic candidates in the past. When conservative billionaire activist Charles Koch confesses that Hillary might be the best candidate running, it doesn’t speak well of the GOP ‘s current candidates. Backing Hillary, Koch speaks volumes about her strong ties to Wall Street and the Defense Industry, both heavily back Hillary’s super-PAC. Poised for big wins Tuesday, April 26 in the Northeast and Mid-Atlantic, Trump’s drawing dangerously close the1,237 magic number needed for the GOP nomination. Cruz can’t explain how he’s supposed to be competitive in the fall when he can’t win the GOP’s most populous states. Kasich insists it’s all about going to a brokered convention, convincing delegates to vote fro him when he’s won virtually nothing in five months of GOP primary voting.
Teaming up to both play spoilers in upcoming GOP contests shows the extent of the GOP internecine warfare, pitting the Republican Party establishment against Trump’s grassroots campaign. Plotting a floor fight in Cleveland is disputed by Republican National Committee Chairman Reince Priebus, seeing a contested convention as growing less likely. Only Cruz and Kasich, both with zero chance of getting the 1,237 magic number, see a second, third or fourth ballot at a contested convention as the only path to the nomination. “We will focus our time and resources in New Mexico and Oregon, both areas that are structurally similar to the Northeast politically, where Gov Kasich is performing well,” said campaign manager Jeff Weaver. Weaver’s dreaming about selling Kasich to anyone when he’s lost every contest accept Ohio since entering the 2016 race July 21, 2015.
Cruz and Kasich are about to take another beating April 26 when Maryland, Delaware, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island and Connecticut vote. Joining forces to stop Trump’s chance from getting the magic number could backfire for two failing GOP candidates. Whatever the GOP rules in Cleveland, GOP primary voters won’t take kindly to sabotaging primary voters. “I only care about the first [ballot]. We’re not going for the second, third, fourth or fifth,” said Trump, who, unlike Cruz and Kasich, are not trying to game the system at a brokered convention. Getting roundly beaten by Trump in delegates, popular votes and state victories, neither Cruz nor Kasich have any real grounds to sell convention delegates that they’re better equipped to beat Hillary in November. Gaming the system runs afoul with rank-and-file GOP voters looking for a change in 2016.
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