With crafty Ted Cruz racking up more delegates by the day, it is very unlikely Donald Trump will reach the required delegate total of 1237 to win the Republican nomination on a first ballot vote. It looks more and more like an open convention.
Enter Paul Ryan. Surely he will ride into the convention as the GOP establishment’s white knight come to save the party … again?
Paul Ryan won’t be doing anything of the kind. In about as clear as statement as he could make, Ryan reiterated he would not make himself available in any multiballot convention.
“Let me be clear,” said Ryan, “I do not want, nor will I accept the Republican nomination. So let me speak directly to the delegates on this: If no candidate has a majority on the first ballot, I believe you should only choose a person who actually participated in the primary. Count me out.”
So Ryan believes the nomination should go to a person “who actually participated in the primary?” If you’ve forgotten, that individual would be one of the following:
Ben Carson Marco Rubio Chris Christy
George Pataki Mike Huckabee Carly Fiorina
Jeb Bush Jim Gilmore Rand Paul
Rick Perry Scott Walker Lindsey Graham
Bobby Jindal Rick Santorum
Ryan used the term “participated” because he, like the rest of the Republican elites, do not want Donald Trump or Ted Cruz coming anywhere near the Republican nomination.
But what about John Kasich? Here is a candidate who not only participated but is still participating!
If there is no winner on a first ballot convention vote, Kasich should be the Republican nominee. He would give the GOP its best shot at winning the presidency or, at least, not losing it by a landslide.
Kasich appeals to the Republican establishment … and even to some Democrats. Polls have consistently shown him to be the only Republican candidate to beat Hillary Clinton in a head-to-head matchup.
A recent Pew survey suggested Kasich is the most agreeable candidate — from either party — among a broader universe of registered voters. Only 20 percent of those voters said Kasich would make a “poor” or “terrible” president. The next-lowest total was Bernie Sanders, at 36 percent.
Another Bloomberg poll found that U.S. adults view Kasich more favorably than they view Cruz or Trump (or Sanders or Hillary Clinton, for that matter). Kasich’s net favorability (that is, favorability minus unfavorability) was plus 14, compared with Cruz’s negative 23 and Trump’s negative 39.
Kasich is the conservative candidate the party has always wanted. They tired backing Jeb and Marco to no avail.
Did I mention that polls show John Kasich as the only Republican to beat Hillary in a general election matchup?
According to a recently released Monmouth University survey, when Kasich is matched up against Clinton, 45 percent of registered voters nationwide said they would vote for the Ohio governor, compared to 39 percent for the former secretary of state. Against Clinton, Kasich leads with men, voters between the ages of 18 and 54 and white non-Hispanics, while Clinton holds a narrower advantage among women and a wider lead among those who are not white.
The $64,000 question is why hasn’t the Republican establishment gotten behind their best candidate to take on Hillary … or Bernie? Is there some dark secret lurking in Kasich’s past? Is he just not conservative enough? Or could it be that, as Bobby Jindal called it, the GOP is truly the “stupid party?” For Democrats, let’s hope.
Photo | theslot.jezebel.com
Kasich/Rubio could be a winning combo.
Yes, could be GOP’s best bet.
“Only 20 percent” of people don’t have a low opinion of him. That’s because a lot of voters know nothing about him. If he becomes the nominee, his negative rating will increase, because he’s the same destructive party puppet as all the rest of the GOP candidates.
Don’t think his negatives could ever be worse than Trump or Cruz.
As a Democrat I am, and have been from the start, most afraid of Kasich as the nominee. You ask a good question. Why isn’t the GOP establishment backing him?
Not sure. Could it be he’s for comprehensive immigration reform?
Could it just be that Repugs are really the stupid party?
Ka-Sick is an egotistical, dangerous fascist in disguise. He only cares about the publicity he can sack for himself; he cares little for the American people nor their plight.
I believe that he would really be a grave threat to national security and world peace. Don’t be deceived; he’s got an ego like a black hole. He seems to me to be off-base and off-kilter. A couple of twists short of a full screw. There’s no filter in his coffee maker. Almost as smart as a finch. Not enough brain cells for the Prozac to be effective. He’s definitely an establishment clown who’s not digging in the same ditch with the rest of us.
It’s like looking into the eyes of a smiling cobra; sooner or later you just know there’s going to come a really nasty bite!
To hell with Ka-Sick and phuck Ted Cruz!
I hope Trump is the nominee. Kasich gives GOP best shot at beating Hillary.