Should I Thank Ohio Republicans? Or Curse Them?

Son of Spengler
Son of Spengler Inactive
10420
 

Many of Senator Ted Cruz’s Ohio supporters voted for Governor Kasich in the GOP primaries in order to stop Trump. I was skeptical of that strategy, because I thought keeping Kasich in the race longer would dilute the anti-Trump vote and, thus, ultimately serve to weaken Cruz.

Now people on the Kasich and Cruz teams have announced a pact, of a sort. Cruz will abandon the field in Oregon and New Mexico, where Kasich is stronger. In return, Kasich will abandon Indiana, where Cruz has his last shot at denying Trump popular legitimacy and a first-round victory at the Republican national convention.

Kasich’s chief strategist, John Weaver, said in a separate statement: “Due to the fact that the Indiana primary is winner-take-all statewide and by congressional district, keeping Trump from winning a plurality in Indiana is critical to keeping him under 1,237 bound delegates before Cleveland. We are very comfortable with our delegate position in Indiana already, and given the current dynamics of the primary there, we will shift our campaign’s resources West and give the Cruz campaign a clear path in Indiana.”

Meanwhile — for the first time in just about ever — my state of Connecticut may actually matter in the primary election. Trump is leading, followed by Kasich, with Cruz a distant third. So now, I am faced with the same tactical question (albeit with less at stake) as my Ohio compatriots: Do I vote for the insufferable moral narcissist, or my actual preferred candidate? Can I trust Kasich not to flip his delegates to The Donald later on?

Thanks a lot, Ohio. I don’t know if you did the right thing, but one way or the other, if you’d let Kasich go in peace, I wouldn’t be facing this quandry.

Published in Politics

There are 104 comments

  1. Lucy Pevensie
    Lucy Pevensie
    @LucyPevensie

    That’s a quandary.

    If I were you I’d look carefully at the rules in Connecticut, and decide accordingly.

    I often wish Rubio had not told his Ohio supporters to vote for Kasich. We have no idea, of course, what difference that might have made.

    • #1
  2. Mate De
    Mate De
    @MateDe

    I’m voting Cruz tomorrow, I can’t bring myself to vote for Kasich.

    • #2
  3. ctlaw
    ctlaw
    @ctlaw

    Same dilemma.

    I note that Cruz is also a bit of a narcissist. He is of the Obama variety where he thinks that he can do everything better than everyone else. I get the feeling he writes his own speeches and doesn’t let anybody else sanity check his work.

    • #3
  4. donald todd
    donald todd
    @donaldtodd

    Lucy Pevensie:That’s a quandary.

    If I were you I’d look carefully at the rules in Connecticut, and decide accordingly.

    I often wish Rubio had not told his Ohio supporters to vote for Kasich. We have no idea, of course, what difference that might have made.

    None.  There is a reason that Kasich is the Ohio governor and it had nothing to do with Marco.

    • #4
  5. Mate De
    Mate De
    @MateDe

    ctlaw:Same dilemma.

    I note that Cruz is also a bit of a narcissist. He is of the Obama variety where he thinks that he can do everything better than everyone else. I get the feeling he writes his own speeches and doesn’t let anybody else sanity check his work.

    I admit that anyone who runs for president has to have a self confidence, and ambition that I just could never relate to. But of all the candidates running now, I find Cruz to be the least narcissistic. Trump has a brain so great he doesn’t need advisors. Kasich expanded medicaid because God wanted him to. Hillary is well, geez Hillary, and Bernie the socialist who knows nothing about how the world actually works.

    We’re doomed.

    • #5

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