“Drop out Kasich.”
‘”Unite for Cruz.”
But the Ohio governor isn’t listening—and that’s a very good thing.
In reality, no nominee will make 1,237. We are headed to a brokered convention. Ted Cruz will either be first or second in the delegate count. So doesn’t Cruz have this thing locked down?
That would be a no.
I’m for John Kasich. You get it? He’s my man.
- Former California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, to a well-wisher in Gold’s Gym, featured in Heat Street’s exclusive video interview today.
On Saturday, Nevada’s Governor Sandoval —who, like Ted Cruz, is Hispanic—endorsed John Kasich. This was news, as Sandoval previously said he could vote for Trump.
John Kasich is the only candidate in the race with a real plan to deliver results, and he is the only Republican who can defeat Hillary Clinton in the fall. I look forward to helping his team spread this message to voters in the months ahead.
- Gov. Sandoval’s statement of endorsement for Kasich
The Sandoval boost came after former New York Governor George Pataki also endorsed Kasich, who is running second to Donald Trump in that state. A Fox News poll also offered the moderate a moderate lift—he rose 8 points nationwide, from 17% to a more respectable 25%.
The most famous immigrant in America, former Gov. Schwarzenegger of California, already endorsed Kasich at a rally in Ohio before he swept the state. In our video interview, he makes a passionate case for Kasich—and it’s one the Republican party can’t afford to ignore.
The GOP should sit themselves down and do a little basic math. Yes, Kasich points out his superbly favorable polling against Hillary Clinton—he crushes her in a general, whereas Cruz is still losing to Clinton. But Kasich needs to change his messaging. He should point out one even more obvious advantage.
Gov. Kasich brings Ohio—and without Ohio, the Republicans are crushingly unlikely to win the general election.
Republican strategists were floored by the failure of their Florida machine to unite. Jeb Bush and Marco Rubio, rivals, both dropped out after running decent campaigns in an indecent season. Florida should have been in the bag—now it’s in the bag for Hillary.
Does anybody seriously believe the Republicans can take the White House without Ohio, too?
They WANT Kasich on that wall. They NEED Kasich on that wall …
Sorry, got a little carried away there.
But at some point, the Republicans will lift their eyes from delegates, rules committees, polls and Corey Lewandowski. As fun as all that stuff is, the math is more basic than that. This year’s key number isn’t 1,237. It’s 270.
Kasich, the moderate, has a shot in Wisconsin—not the primary, the general. He has a shot in Pennsylvania, too, and in Colorado.
Ted Cruz probably does not. He comes from Texas, which is going Republican anyway. When the GOP wakes up from its Trump coma, will it ever start running the real numbers?
John Kasich is a foreign policy expert who—as Schwarzenegger points out—turned Ohio’s $8bn deficit into a $2bn surplus.
“I want him to do for America what he’s done for Ohio,” Arnold Schwarzenegger tells me in our interview.
The RCP Average has Hillary over Ted by more than three points. It has Kasich over Hillary by over six points—a massive pro-Kasich differential of nearly 10 points in total.
And if the DC Caucus (winner: Marco Rubio; close second, John Kasich) tells us anything, it is that the GOP workers who will be running the convention do not have any affection for Ted Cruz.
Kasich knows that in 2016 there are no rules, and if winning matters, he’s the last man standing that can really do it.
John, we salute you. May the odds be ever in your favor.
