OHIO GOVERNOR DIDN’T GET THE MEMO …
It sure didn’t take long for the unholy alliance between Ohio governor John Kasich and U.S. Senator Ted Cruz of Texas to unravel, did it?
In an coordinated effort to deny “Republican” frontrunner Donald Trump the 1,237 delegates he needs to emerge victorious from this summer’s GOP convention, Kasich and Cruz – both of whom have been mathematically-eliminated from capturing the nomination based on the outcome of primary elections – struck a deal regarding a series of upcoming primary elections.
The plan was simple: The fiscally liberal Ohio governor would pull out of Indiana in the hopes Cruz would win there. Meanwhile, Cruz would pull out of Oregon and New Mexico – letting Kasich take votes in those two states.
Desperate? Yes.
Pathetic? Absolutely.
Feasible? So far … no.
Within hours of this scheme being launched it was already falling apart.
Campaigning in Philadelphia on Monday, Kasich was asked pointedly whether his deal with Cruz meant that he was telling his Indiana supporters (he’s currently polling at around 20 percent in the Hoosier State) to abandon him.
“I’ve never told them not to vote for me,” Kasich said. “They ought to vote for me.”
Wait … what?
Someone clearly forgot to give Kasich the memo explaining the whole point of colluding with Cruz: Having his Indiana backers switch their votes.
Meanwhile Trump mocked the desperation of his rivals.
“If you collude in business, or if you collude in the stock market, they put you in jail,” he said. “But in politics, because it’s a rigged system, because it’s a corrupt enterprise, in politics you’re allowed to collude.”
Indeed …
Cruz gets the worst of this, in our opinion. He actually had a pseudo-credible candidacy. Colluding with Kasich cheapens him – and reinforces the perception that his campaign is not (and has perhaps never been) “on the level.” That’s no big deal if you’re a typical politician, but Cruz backers have played up his status as God’s anointed candidate.
So … what happens now?
Our guess is this alliance will continue to backfire badly – perhaps even helping Trump in the delegate battle.
Of course whoever wins the GOP nod will face fractures no one politician is likely to put back together again. Ever. In fact on both the left and the right, fundamental ideological realignments are taking place that will dramatically reshape the current partisan structure.
That’s a good thing, in our estimation …