Is John Kasich Two Bold Strokes Away From Winning the Presidency?

Marvan Buren · Mar 16, 2016

For Conservatives, 2016 looks hopeless. Ted Cruz was only half right when he said that Donald Trump is the only Republican who would lose to Hillary Clinton. The half that he got wrong is that Cruz is the other Republican who would lose. And while an open convention could theoretically nominate anyone, Trump and Cruz are currently the only two candidates who could be perceived as legitimate. Anyone else would have too big a hill to climb even to get most of his own party to support him.

But all of this could change if John Kasich, took the bold step TODAY, to announce that if he is nominated, Marco Rubio will be his VP. By himself, Kasich is far behind the two leaders but if, in the mind of the public, his delegates are added to the ones won by Rubio, he gets a lot closer. Now assume that with his new momentum, he wins several more states, including California. Suddenly, he is no less legitimate than the others.

A Kasich-Rubio ticket has always been the most obvious pathway to putting a Republican in the White House. Kasich’s experience and success combined with Rubio’s charisma, oratorical skills and life story is hard to beat. During the campaign Kasich can continue to take the high road in laying out his plans for the future while Rubio who has already proven that he knows how to attack, will have his back. And of course, they represent Ohio and Florida, the two purple states Republicans must win to be successful in November.

The reason this should happen is that neither has anything to lose. Kasich has no pathway to the nomination without Rubio and Rubio has no job to go back to from which he can build a 2020 campaign. Yes, he could hope that Cruz gets the nomination and selects him for VP, but what good would that do since Cruz is, after all, one of the two Republicans who would lose to Clinton.

Realistically, though, for the Kasich / Rubio ticket to have a chance, they would need to reach out to the Conservative wing which, to date, has opposed them. For this, Kasich will need to take a second bold step. That step would be to offer the Attorney General position to Ted Cruz with a promise that he will have a major say in the selection of Supreme Court justices. It would be an offer that Cruz, who needs something on his resume besides being an obstructionist Senator, couldn’t refuse - especially given the alternative of Hillary Clinton picking Antonin Scalia's replacement.

There is probably nothing that can be offered to Trump and his supporters but even without them, the Dream ticket, with Cruz campaigning hard for them, would be a very formidable opponent for Clinton.

Does Kasich have the courage to take these bold steps? If not, he doesn’t deserve to be President. If so, then Rubio’s suspension of his campaign will be seen by Republicans as the darkness before the light. And it will be seen by Hillary Clinton as her worst nightmare coming true.

OpportunityCost · Mar 16, 2016

Marvan Buren said:
For Conservatives, 2016 looks hopeless. Ted Cruz was only half right when he said that Donald Trump is the only Republican who would lose to Hillary Clinton. The half that he got wrong is that Cruz is the other Republican who would lose. And while an open convention could theoretically nominate anyone, Trump and Cruz are currently the only two candidates who could be perceived as legitimate. Anyone else would have too big a hill to climb even to get most of his own party to support him.

But all of this could change if John Kasich, took the bold step TODAY, to announce that if he is nominated, Marco Rubio will be his VP. By himself, Kasich is far behind the two leaders but if, in the mind of the public, his delegates are added to the ones won by Rubio, he gets a lot closer. Now assume that with his new momentum, he wins several more states, including California. Suddenly, he is no less legitimate than the others.

A Kasich-Rubio ticket has always been the most obvious pathway to putting a Republican in the White House. Kasich’s experience and success combined with Rubio’s charisma, oratorical skills and life story is hard to beat. During the campaign Kasich can continue to take the high road in laying out his plans for the future while Rubio who has already proven that he knows how to attack, will have his back. And of course, they represent Ohio and Florida, the two purple states Republicans must win to be successful in November.

The reason this should happen is that neither has anything to lose. Kasich has no pathway to the nomination without Rubio and Rubio has no job to go back to from which he can build a 2020 campaign. Yes, he could hope that Cruz gets the nomination and selects him for VP, but what good would that do since Cruz is, after all, one of the two Republicans who would lose to Clinton.

Realistically, though, for the Kasich / Rubio ticket to have a chance, they would need to reach out to the Conservative wing which, to date, has opposed them. For this, Kasich will need to take a second bold step. That step would be to offer the Attorney General position to Ted Cruz with a promise that he will have a major say in the selection of Supreme Court justices. It would be an offer that Cruz, who needs something on his resume besides being an obstructionist Senator, couldn’t refuse - especially given the alternative of Hillary Clinton picking Antonin Scalia's replacement.

There is probably nothing that can be offered to Trump and his supporters but even without them, the Dream ticket, with Cruz campaigning hard for them, would be a very formidable opponent for Clinton.

Does Kasich have the courage to take these bold steps? If not, he doesn’t deserve to be President. If so, then Rubio’s suspension of his campaign will be seen by Republicans as the darkness before the light. And it will be seen by Hillary Clinton as her worst nightmare coming true.

He would need Cruz and Rubio to be on board, and I don't think that will happen.

Crovax · Mar 16, 2016

Kasich is two strokes away from the presidency, medical strokes that is, if Trump and Cruz each have one he's got a real good chance.

LowDown · Mar 16, 2016

Marvan Buren said:
For Conservatives, 2016 looks hopeless. Ted Cruz was only half right when he said that Donald Trump is the only Republican who would lose to Hillary Clinton. The half that he got wrong is that Cruz is the other Republican who would lose. And while an open convention could theoretically nominate anyone, Trump and Cruz are currently the only two candidates who could be perceived as legitimate. Anyone else would have too big a hill to climb even to get most of his own party to support him.

But all of this could change if John Kasich, took the bold step TODAY, to announce that if he is nominated, Marco Rubio will be his VP. By himself, Kasich is far behind the two leaders but if, in the mind of the public, his delegates are added to the ones won by Rubio, he gets a lot closer. Now assume that with his new momentum, he wins several more states, including California. Suddenly, he is no less legitimate than the others.

A Kasich-Rubio ticket has always been the most obvious pathway to putting a Republican in the White House. Kasich’s experience and success combined with Rubio’s charisma, oratorical skills and life story is hard to beat. During the campaign Kasich can continue to take the high road in laying out his plans for the future while Rubio who has already proven that he knows how to attack, will have his back. And of course, they represent Ohio and Florida, the two purple states Republicans must win to be successful in November.

The reason this should happen is that neither has anything to lose. Kasich has no pathway to the nomination without Rubio and Rubio has no job to go back to from which he can build a 2020 campaign. Yes, he could hope that Cruz gets the nomination and selects him for VP, but what good would that do since Cruz is, after all, one of the two Republicans who would lose to Clinton.

Realistically, though, for the Kasich / Rubio ticket to have a chance, they would need to reach out to the Conservative wing which, to date, has opposed them. For this, Kasich will need to take a second bold step. That step would be to offer the Attorney General position to Ted Cruz with a promise that he will have a major say in the selection of Supreme Court justices. It would be an offer that Cruz, who needs something on his resume besides being an obstructionist Senator, couldn’t refuse - especially given the alternative of Hillary Clinton picking Antonin Scalia's replacement.

There is probably nothing that can be offered to Trump and his supporters but even without them, the Dream ticket, with Cruz campaigning hard for them, would be a very formidable opponent for Clinton.

Does Kasich have the courage to take these bold steps? If not, he doesn’t deserve to be President. If so, then Rubio’s suspension of his campaign will be seen by Republicans as the darkness before the light. And it will be seen by Hillary Clinton as her worst nightmare coming true.

There is a strongly insurgent sentiment in the electorate this year, so I don't see Kasich getting the nomination. He seems to be a rather tepid moderate and doesn't evoke any enthusiasm. You don't just reach out to the conservative wing after all the things he's said and expect any response. Look at all the advantages Jeb Bush had going in, but he came out for amnesty and that was the end of him.

Centrehalf · Mar 16, 2016

John Kasich will not be elected President in 2016.

VanceMack · Mar 16, 2016

Marvan Buren is I assume a play on the name Martin Van Buren. Ironic because John Kasich is a play on the word Rip Van Winkle. OK...not really...but that is Kasich's biggest problem. He campaigns like he is asleep under a tree. He talks and he puts people to sleep. I actually said a month ago that the GOPs best chance to stop Trump would have been for Cruz, rubio, and Kasich to come together, throw their full support behind Kasich, Cruz and Rubio, should then drop out, and announce someone like Bonnie Garcia as a VP nominee. But did they listen to me? Noooooooooooooooooooooooo.

cpwill · Mar 16, 2016

Marvan Buren said:
For Conservatives, 2016 looks hopeless. Ted Cruz was only half right when he said that Donald Trump is the only Republican who would lose to Hillary Clinton. The half that he got wrong is that Cruz is the other Republican who would lose.

Cruz is currently beating Hillary within the margin of error.

And while an open convention could theoretically nominate anyone, Trump and Cruz are currently the only two candidates who could be perceived as legitimate

Or who will be seen as legitimate. The Trump folks will walk if it's Kasich. The former Rubio and some of the Kasich people will likely walk if it's Trump. Cruz is the only one who is not unacceptable to large chunks of the GOP electorate, at this point.

Anyone else would have too big a hill to climb even to get most of his own party to support him. But all of this could change if John Kasich, took the bold step TODAY, to announce that if he is nominated, Marco Rubio will be his VP. By himself, Kasich is far behind the two leaders but if, in the mind of the public, his delegates are added to the ones won by Rubio, he gets a lot closer. Now assume that with his new momentum, he wins several more states, including California. Suddenly, he is no less legitimate than the others.

Rubio's chief political adviser came out last night and told Republicans to start supporting Cruz. Kasich is thus far 1 out of 29. He has

A Kasich-Rubio ticket has always been the most obvious pathway to putting a Republican in the White House.

Huzzah. In case you haven't noticed, the GOP doesn't care about that this primary cycle.

Realistically, though, for the Kasich / Rubio ticket to have a chance, they would need to reach out to the Conservative wing which, to date, has opposed them. For this, Kasich will need to take a second bold step. That step would be to offer the Attorney General position to Ted Cruz with a promise that he will have a major say in the selection of Supreme Court justices. It would be an offer that Cruz, who needs something on his resume besides being an obstructionist Senator, couldn’t refuse - especially given the alternative of Hillary Clinton picking Antonin Scalia's replacement.

:lamoCruz is on a far better path to POTUS than Kasich. He's about as likely to take this deal as he is to drop out and endorse Bush.

disneydude · Mar 16, 2016

Marvan Buren said:
For Conservatives, 2016 looks hopeless. Ted Cruz was only half right when he said that Donald Trump is the only Republican who would lose to Hillary Clinton. The half that he got wrong is that Cruz is the other Republican who would lose. And while an open convention could theoretically nominate anyone, Trump and Cruz are currently the only two candidates who could be perceived as legitimate. Anyone else would have too big a hill to climb even to get most of his own party to support him.

But all of this could change if John Kasich, took the bold step TODAY, to announce that if he is nominated, Marco Rubio will be his VP. By himself, Kasich is far behind the two leaders but if, in the mind of the public, his delegates are added to the ones won by Rubio, he gets a lot closer. Now assume that with his new momentum, he wins several more states, including California. Suddenly, he is no less legitimate than the others.

A Kasich-Rubio ticket has always been the most obvious pathway to putting a Republican in the White House. Kasich’s experience and success combined with Rubio’s charisma, oratorical skills and life story is hard to beat. During the campaign Kasich can continue to take the high road in laying out his plans for the future while Rubio who has already proven that he knows how to attack, will have his back. And of course, they represent Ohio and Florida, the two purple states Republicans must win to be successful in November.

The reason this should happen is that neither has anything to lose. Kasich has no pathway to the nomination without Rubio and Rubio has no job to go back to from which he can build a 2020 campaign. Yes, he could hope that Cruz gets the nomination and selects him for VP, but what good would that do since Cruz is, after all, one of the two Republicans who would lose to Clinton.

Realistically, though, for the Kasich / Rubio ticket to have a chance, they would need to reach out to the Conservative wing which, to date, has opposed them. For this, Kasich will need to take a second bold step. That step would be to offer the Attorney General position to Ted Cruz with a promise that he will have a major say in the selection of Supreme Court justices. It would be an offer that Cruz, who needs something on his resume besides being an obstructionist Senator, couldn’t refuse - especially given the alternative of Hillary Clinton picking Antonin Scalia's replacement.

There is probably nothing that can be offered to Trump and his supporters but even without them, the Dream ticket, with Cruz campaigning hard for them, would be a very formidable opponent for Clinton.

Does Kasich have the courage to take these bold steps? If not, he doesn’t deserve to be President. If so, then Rubio’s suspension of his campaign will be seen by Republicans as the darkness before the light. And it will be seen by Hillary Clinton as her worst nightmare coming true.

Rubiot is damaged goods. He adds nothing to the ticket. If he wasn't finished by the Christie shellacking....or his focusing on Trump's penis....his getting slaughtered in Florida sealed his doom. He is of no value....voters in Florida are not enamored of him anymore.

mak2 · Mar 16, 2016

I never thought Trump would last a week or so. I have given up on underestimating him. He might be President. Of course that's a very sad statement about our country.

Marvan Buren · Mar 16, 2016

VanceMack said:
Marvan Buren is I assume a play on the name Martin Van Buren. Ironic because John Kasich is a play on the word Rip Van Winkle. OK...not really...but that is Kasich's biggest problem. He campaigns like he is asleep under a tree. He talks and he puts people to sleep. I actually said a month ago that the GOPs best chance to stop Trump would have been for Cruz, rubio, and Kasich to come together, throw their full support behind Kasich, Cruz and Rubio, should then drop out, and announce someone like Bonnie Garcia as a VP nominee. But did they listen to me? Noooooooooooooooooooooooo.

UNMASKED! Yes, Martin Van Buren was also known as the "Little Magician" of New York for his knowledge of the ways of politics and his ability to manipulate the rules (or lack thereof) to his advantage.

I wouldn't count Kasich out just because he is boring. By the time the June primaries come around, the GOP may well be suffering from Trump fatigue and Kasich is the guy to calm them down. Add Rubio for a little excitement, buy off Cruz with the Supreme Court, and your alliance can still come together.

Marvan Buren · Mar 16, 2016

cpwill said:
Cruz is on a far better path to POTUS than Kasich. He's about as likely to take this deal as he is to drop out and endorse Bush.

Of course Cruz is not going to make any deals with Kasich now. However, let's picture a contested convention filled with the exact same Republican Party stalwarts that Cruz has been eviscerating for the last 4 years. Are they really going to pick him? No, if for no other reason then that of good parenting. Allowing Cruz to be the Party nominee will reward his bad behavior in the Senate. Kasich doesn't even have to approach Cruz directly. He whispers to the Cruz delegates that, if Kasich is nominated with their support, Cruz will be given control over all Supreme Court nominees. It would be an offer that Cruz could not refuse.

Come to think of it, if that didn't work, Kasich might even go further and nominate Cruz himself to be on the court. The Senate would approve him unanimously just to get rid of him.

cpwill · Mar 16, 2016

Marvan Buren said:
Of course Cruz is not going to make any deals with Kasich now. However, let's picture a contested convention filled with the exact same Republican Party stalwarts that Cruz has been eviscerating for the last 4 years. Are they really going to pick him? No, if for no other reason then that of good parenting. Allowing Cruz to be the Party nominee will reward his bad behavior in the Senate. Kasich doesn't even have to approach Cruz directly. He whispers to the Cruz delegates that, if Kasich is nominated with their support, Cruz will be given control over all Supreme Court nominees. It would be an offer that Cruz could not refuse.

Or. He could just be the nominee, and actually control the nomination, as opposed to having to depend on Kasich's good graces (which no one has any reason to trust).

You are moving from Denial to Bargaining.

The options are: 1. Cruz 2. GOP splits. We may not even get #1. Notice how Kasich isn't an independent option on the list.

Come to think of it, if that didn't work, Kasich might even go further and nominate Cruz himself to be on the court.

So, Cruz trades a chance to be President for a worthless agreement that IF Kasich wins, maybe he will be nominated to SCOTUS, and filibustered by the Democrats. Yeah. I'm betting he's not dumb enough to take that deal.

The Senate would approve him unanimously just to get rid of him.

Or. Cruz could be President, and nominate whomever he liked.

Marvan Buren · Mar 16, 2016

cpwill said:
.

The options are: 1. Cruz 2. GOP splits. We may not even get #1. Notice how Kasich isn't an independent option on the list.

So, Cruz trades a chance to be President for a worthless agreement that IF Kasich wins, maybe he will be nominated to SCOTUS, and filibustered by the Democrats. Yeah. I'm betting he's not dumb enough to take that deal.

Or. Cruz could be President, and nominate whomever he liked.

Just to be clear - Cruz will not make a deal as long as he perceives he has a chance to be President. It's not in his nature to make deals. But if and when it becomes clear that he has no chance, then, of course he'll be open to the best offer. Kasich can win in November. Trump probably can't. Therefore Kasich can make the better offer. That offer is more likely to be Attorney General. Cruz on the Court is too chilling.

And I have to disagree with your two options. There is only 1 option - GOP splits. It is inconceivable that Ted Cruz can unite the Republican Party.

cpwill · Mar 17, 2016

Marvan Buren said:
Just to be clear - Cruz will not make a deal as long as he perceives he has a chance to be President. It's not in his nature to make deals. But if and when it becomes clear that he has no chance, then, of course he'll be open to the best offer. Kasich can win in November. Trump probably can't. Therefore Kasich can make the better offer. That offer is more likely to be Attorney General. Cruz on the Court is too chilling.

And I have to disagree with your two options. There is only 1 option - GOP splits. It is inconceivable that Ted Cruz can unite the Republican Party.

It is not inconceivable at all. I'd call it about a 60/40 (guesstimate).

That being said, Cruz has a better chance at the convention than Kasich does. You are engaging in magical thinking.

Hey! Maybe Trump could bring back Marco Rubio as VP, but then resign, making Rubio the Presidential candidate!!! Yeah, That would totally work!!!

Rubio, who dropped out, has more delegates than Kasich, who through his delusions is going to wreck the party and give it to Trump.

Marvan Buren · Mar 17, 2016

cpwill said:
It is not inconceivable at all. I'd call it about a 60/40 (guesstimate).

That being said, Cruz has a better chance at the convention than Kasich does. You are engaging in magical thinking.

Hey! Maybe Trump could bring back Marco Rubio as VP, but then resign, making Rubio the Presidential candidate!!! Yeah, That would totally work!!!

Rubio, who dropped out, has more delegates than Kasich, who through his delusions is going to wreck the party and give it to Trump.

Since my orientation is center-left, I have to defer to you on the odds of Cruz being able to unite the Republican Party. What I should have said was that it was inconceivable "to me" that a person who built his reputation on being divisive, could suddenly become the one person who can hold the GOP together. The establishment hates him and if they hold their noses and anoint him as the Republican nominee, the Trump folks will walk anyway (or at least you hope they go quietly.) Therefore, if the establishment wants to steal the nomination from Trump, they might as well give it to someone who they like and who has the best chance of beating Clinton. General Election Polls in March are nonsense but if you want to use them to argue that Cruz is competitive with Clinton, you also need to accept that those same polls show that Kasich is comfortably ahead of her.

cpwill · Mar 18, 2016

Marvan Buren said:
Since my orientation is center-left, I have to defer to you on the odds of Cruz being able to unite the Republican Party. What I should have said was that it was inconceivable "to me" that a person who built his reputation on being divisive, could suddenly become the one person who can hold the GOP together.

Lindsay Graham - Lindsay Graham - is now hosting fundraisers for Ted Cruz.

The establishment hates him and if they hold their noses and anoint him as the Republican nominee, the Trump folks will walk anyway (or at least you hope they go quietly.)

Some of them will - the true core of the personality cult. Others simply wanted to punish the leadership, and others wanted to register a protest vote. Cruz fulfills both of those requirements.

Therefore, if the establishment wants to steal the nomination from Trump

A) "the establishment" doesn't exist (certainly as anything other than a loose network-of-networks of wonks and influencers and interests that includes a lot of people who certainly don't think of themselves as Establishment) and B) they can't "steal" the nomination from Trump. If Trump gets 1,237 delegate votes, he wins. If he doesn't, he doesn't.

they might as well give it to someone who they like and who has the best chance of beating Clinton. General Election Polls in March are nonsense but if you want to use them to argue that Cruz is competitive with Clinton, you also need to accept that those same polls show that Kasich is comfortably ahead of her.

Certainly they do. But that's a simple head-to-head polling, that doesn't count the party exploding apart. In that scenario, I think the race looks a lot more like 1992.

NeverTrump · Mar 20, 2016

Marvan Buren said:
For Conservatives, 2016 looks hopeless. Ted Cruz was only half right when he said that Donald Trump is the only Republican who would lose to Hillary Clinton. The half that he got wrong is that Cruz is the other Republican who would lose. And while an open convention could theoretically nominate anyone, Trump and Cruz are currently the only two candidates who could be perceived as legitimate. Anyone else would have too big a hill to climb even to get most of his own party to support him.

But all of this could change if John Kasich, took the bold step TODAY, to announce that if he is nominated, Marco Rubio will be his VP. By himself, Kasich is far behind the two leaders but if, in the mind of the public, his delegates are added to the ones won by Rubio, he gets a lot closer. Now assume that with his new momentum, he wins several more states, including California. Suddenly, he is no less legitimate than the others.

A Kasich-Rubio ticket has always been the most obvious pathway to putting a Republican in the White House. Kasich’s experience and success combined with Rubio’s charisma, oratorical skills and life story is hard to beat. During the campaign Kasich can continue to take the high road in laying out his plans for the future while Rubio who has already proven that he knows how to attack, will have his back. And of course, they represent Ohio and Florida, the two purple states Republicans must win to be successful in November.

The reason this should happen is that neither has anything to lose. Kasich has no pathway to the nomination without Rubio and Rubio has no job to go back to from which he can build a 2020 campaign. Yes, he could hope that Cruz gets the nomination and selects him for VP, but what good would that do since Cruz is, after all, one of the two Republicans who would lose to Clinton.

Realistically, though, for the Kasich / Rubio ticket to have a chance, they would need to reach out to the Conservative wing which, to date, has opposed them. For this, Kasich will need to take a second bold step. That step would be to offer the Attorney General position to Ted Cruz with a promise that he will have a major say in the selection of Supreme Court justices. It would be an offer that Cruz, who needs something on his resume besides being an obstructionist Senator, couldn’t refuse - especially given the alternative of Hillary Clinton picking Antonin Scalia's replacement.

There is probably nothing that can be offered to Trump and his supporters but even without them, the Dream ticket, with Cruz campaigning hard for them, would be a very formidable opponent for Clinton.

Does Kasich have the courage to take these bold steps? If not, he doesn’t deserve to be President. If so, then Rubio’s suspension of his campaign will be seen by Republicans as the darkness before the light. And it will be seen by Hillary Clinton as her worst nightmare coming true.

Rubio has publicly stated he has no interest in being Kasich's or anyone's VP. Something tells me he's just bitter about losing and that a deal could be made in the future. I mean if he really was genuine about stopping trump and I see no reason to see why he wasn't. Then, it could very well happen. I'm not sure about your theory about Cruz and Attorney General. That doesn't make any sense to me. Now, Cruz as a Supreme Court Justice?? That makes perfect sense!

Marco Rubio: "I'm not going to be anybody's vice president" - CBS News

Is John Kasich Two Bold Strokes Away From Winning the Presidency?

Marvan Buren

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OpportunityCost

Crovax

LowDown

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Centrehalf

VanceMack

Less like the tiger...more like the lion.

cpwill

disneydude

mak2

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cpwill

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cpwill

NeverTrump

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Is John Kasich Two Bold Strokes Away From Winning the Presidency?

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Less like the tiger...more like the lion.

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