Can Kasich Win?

[The Other Castro]

Right now, Trump basically has New Hampshire locked up but the real prize is 2nd place. After Rubio's debate performance, there is a solid chance that Kasich will come in 2nd. Assuming he does come in 2nd by a margin large enough to become the Establishment Choice, can he go toe to toe with Trump and defeat him for the nomination, or is Trump destined for greatness?

[cinyc]

Absolutely not.  Kasich has been extremely hostile to the conservative base of the Republican party throughout the primary season.  The base will not vote for an Obamacare-loving, immigration-supporting RINO.  Trump would kill him, and if Kasich somehow ended up the Republican nominee, many in the base will stay home in November.

[Lief 🗽]

I think he could have definitely won if he had been the establishment choice from the beginning. But it may be too late to get a real national campaign up and running at this point. Maybe in a three way race against Cruz and TRUMP he'd be able to win enough pluralities to take the nomination. But in a one-on-one he'd be f[inks]ed.

[Trapsy]

Naaah. Trump will continue to drive Lehman down his throat.

[Lord of the Dome]

Rubio would have to have a vote collapse of which Kasich is essentially the only beneficiary. That could give him enough momentum to suck up the votes of the establishment candidates who drop out after NH. Even after that though Rubio would probably stick around in the race and so it'd be a hard slog with only a narrow window for Kasich and he'd need to have earned himself enough momentum out of New Hampshire to survive through SC and Super Tuesday. All of this is technically plausible but it requires a Rubio collapse which just isn't going to materialise.

[BM]

Kasich is possibly the best candidate on paper for a general election, but he clearly has a temperament problem and is really uncomfortable to watch when he's backed into a corner (increasingly aggressive  and hostile tone, quaking with anger, odd facial tics, sweating profusely, flailing limbs, etc). He'd get eaten alive by Trump, or Clinton for that matter.

[ElectionsGuy]

No. It's Jon Huntsman all over again.

[mds32]

No. It's Jon Huntsman all over again.

I agree, however unlike Huntsman I think he will preform better in NH.

[mds32]

I think Kasich will win 2nd place with the counties that border Vermont. Rubio will win 2nd the counties that border Maine. Coos is a tossup. Merrimack, Rockingham, and Hillsborough are the counties that could help pull Rubio down or propel him past Kasich.

[Amenhotep Bakari-Sellers]

It seems as though Jeb & Kasich were rising at sametime the establishment was getting behind Rubio. Too bad for Kasich, he probably would have had a better chance at beating Trump, if momemtum would of happened sooner.

[President Johnson]

He could make a strong second. I wish him well, because he's a good guy. But the clear winner will be TRUMP.

[DS0816]

Right now, Trump basically has New Hampshire locked up but the real prize is 2nd place. After Rubio's debate performance, there is a solid chance that Kasich will come in 2nd. Assuming he does come in 2nd by a margin large enough to become the Establishment Choice, can he go toe to toe with Trump and defeat him for the nomination, or is Trump destined for greatness?

I think a second-place finish in New Hampshire is a lot closer to the vice-presidential slot than the presidential nomination of the Republican Party for 2016.

[Xing]

It's possible, but not likely. Even if he manages to get second in NH, he'll have an uphill climb, and the number of Southern states on Super Tuesday won't help him.