Will the establishment support Kasich now?

[I Will Not Be Wrong]

What do you all think?

[IceSpear]

Nah, because he's seen as a liberal by voters in most primary states. They'll probably go back to backing Yeb, until he flames out on Super Tuesday.

[Fuzzy Bear]

He's going to be one of the Establishment finalists.  Christie and Rubio are gone.  Rubio blew it and Christie didn't get any traction.  It's between Kasich and Jeb! now in terms of who's going to be the Establishment's Valentine's Day Sweetheart.

The edge for Jeb! is that the Establishment has been vested in him.  The edge for Kasich is that he's not a Bush, and that he's got appeal with independents.

[Crumpets]

What establishment?

[HilLarry]

Kasich would be the best bet. So what if he isn't on the far right? He has the best chance of winning in a general election which is what the Republicans need! a) he'll win Ohio b) he could court Rubio as a running mate - win FL c) and Kasich has the ability to court independents and moderate Democrats.

[Blue3]

I was about to make this thread

[pbrower2a]

Jeb could still be the Establishment choice. I still think that Cruz or Trump wins the nomination.

[Higgs]

No. He finished second but it certainly wasn't a strong second. Kasich is already pretty far from what the average Republican wants in their candidate and Kasich just doesn't have broad enough appeal to win the nomination. The establishment didn't coalesce tonight and it certainly won't coalesce around Kasich in the coming weeks.

[Fuzzy Bear]

No. He finished second but it certainly wasn't a strong second. Kasich is already pretty far from what the average Republican wants in their candidate and Kasich just doesn't have broad enough appeal to win the nomination. The establishment didn't coalesce tonight and it certainly won't coalesce around Kasich in the coming weeks.

The Establishment is going to note Kasich's surge to the head of the Establishment pack.  He wasn't a close second, but he was a solid 1st in terms of the Establishment field. 

Christie's gone.  Rubio's not gone, but I can't see him recovering from his bad debate performance.  The debate debacle exposed Rubio as not yet ready for the big job.  Jeb! and Kasich are both heavily experienced, and while experience has been a negative for Republicans so far, the GOP is the party that puts the greatest weight on experience.  Kasich, not Jeb!, has the most experience, and Kasich isn't a Bush, so he doesn't have that negative.  I can't see why the Establishment WOULDN'T be interested in Kasich at this point.

[Higgs]

No. He finished second but it certainly wasn't a strong second. Kasich is already pretty far from what the average Republican wants in their candidate and Kasich just doesn't have broad enough appeal to win the nomination. The establishment didn't coalesce tonight and it certainly won't coalesce around Kasich in the coming weeks.

The Establishment is going to note Kasich's surge to the head of the Establishment pack.  He wasn't a close second, but he was a solid 1st in terms of the Establishment field. 

Christie's gone.  Rubio's not gone, but I can't see him recovering from his bad debate performance.  The debate debacle exposed Rubio as not yet ready for the big job.  Jeb! and Kasich are both heavily experienced, and while experience has been a negative for Republicans so far, the GOP is the party that puts the greatest weight on experience.  Kasich, not Jeb!, has the most experience, and Kasich isn't a Bush, so he doesn't have that negative.  I can't see why the Establishment WOULDN'T be interested in Kasich at this point.

I just don't see Kasich having very broad appeal, I bet the establishment remains fractured.

[DS0816]

I have a thread on this.

And I think we know who will win the 2016 Republican presidential nomination.

[Lief 🗽]

Some of the establishment will. Some won't. It's not a monolithic bloc.

[Maxwell]

Some of the establishment will. Some won't. It's not a monolithic bloc.

That's what people are forgetting. And that's why this whole idea that TRUMP will lose as soon as "THE ESTABLISHMENT" coalesces around a candidate is stupid. There could be a large segment of Christie voters who pack their bags and support Trump, a whole segment of Rubio supporters who think Cruz is the last shot, ect.

[Xing]

If the "establishment" was going to coalesce around one candidate, it would have happened by now.

[Fmr. Pres. Duke]

He doesn't have the money to do much from here. He spent nearly all of it in New Hampshire and now is talking about skipping SC to focus on the Midwest.

I like Kasich but I just can't see him going far from here.

[Orser67]

I think that Kasich will get some momentum from NH and from Christie dropping out. But Bush's backers will at least want to give him a chance in SC, and some members of the establishment will also probably want to give Rubio a second chance.

[Asian Nazi]

The Establishment will back Kasich so he can beat TRUMP and win the nomination.

In other news, the Jews started WWII, 9/11 was an inside job, the Federal Reserve assassinated Kennedy, and the moon landing was fake.

[True Federalist (진정한 연방 주의자)]

Kasich just doesn't have the resources to do anything but lay the foundation for a 2020 campaign to be the Republican nominee against either President Clinton or Sanders and/or be the Vice Presidential candidate this year.  He just doesn't have the time to turn his second place in the Granite State into more.  At this point, I just don't see the GOP nominee being anyone other than TRUMP or Cruz.  Other than them, only Jeb and Marco have the infrastructure in place to compete and neither looks to be able to excite enough enthusiasm right now to win.

[Sir Mohamed]

No, not yet, they’ll wait what will happen to the two guys from FL.

[SillyAmerican]

Kasich would be the best bet. So what if he isn't on the far right? He has the best chance of winning in a general election which is what the Republicans need! a) he'll win Ohio b) he could court Rubio as a running mate - win FL c) and Kasich has the ability to court independents and moderate Democrats.

Yup. Kasich has shown himself to be a solid candidate. What worries me is his lack of organization in some of the upcoming contests, but I agree that he has the best chance of winning a general election.

[President Johnson]

No, only after Low energy please clab ¿Jeb? is done and Rubio remains on his path to defeat.