Rubio: I will support Cruz on second ballot

[Kingpoleon]

Yeah, if Kasich + Trump is at least 1200, Cruz and Rubio just ruined themselves.

[Vosem]

Kasich's not going to endorse _trump or put any rule like that into effect. His whole goal is to prevent a Cruz nomination on the second ballot and then emerge as the nominee himself later on. Thus, he's trying to line up people on the Rules Committee specifically to fight rules that would prevent delegates from voting for him, which are the rules the Cruz people will be pushing for, since the delegates will overwhelmingly be more favorable to Cruz than _trump.

Kasich does not have a more positive opinion of _trump than Cruz does, and he'll be perfectly happy to align with Cruz to stop _trump winning. His goal is to prevent anyone from crossing 1237, by any means necessary, until some bright day in the future the frustration gets to people's heads and they cope by nominating him.

[Fargobison]

Isn't Kaisch playing more for a 4th or 5th ballot scenario.

I don't get why he is going to align with Trump, he gets nothing out of handing the nomination to Donald .

[Vosem]

Isn't Kaisch playing more for a 4th or 5th ballot scenario.

I don't get why he is going to align with Trump, he gets nothing out of handing the nomination to Donald .

Kasich's come to the conclusion (as have the more intelligent people on this board) that we've reached a point where the Cruz nomination is the likeliest scenario, so aligning with _trump to reduce the Cruz presence on the Rules and Credentials Committee is very important to Kasich's chances for President. Apparently _trump is far enough away from majorities on these Committees that there's not a chance of _trump seizing control for himself. Kasich is going to oppose whoever the actual frontrunner is to maximize his own chances.

[wolfsblood07]

Wow, imagine telling everyone in late 2013 that Cruz would become the establishment-backed "reasonable" alternative candidate.

The Tea Party has won. Right wing radicalism is now the mainstream of the Republican party.

What is radical about believing in cutting spending when we are already in trillions of dollars of debt?  You should be in the Tea Party.

[Young Conservative]

This is excellent

[#TheShadowyAbyss]

MODERATE HERO^TM Rubio strikes again

[Coolface Sock #42069]

Wow, imagine telling everyone in late 2013 that Cruz would become the establishment-backed "reasonable" alternative candidate.

The Tea Party has won. Right wing radicalism is now the mainstream of the Republican party.

Depends on which "Tea Party". Do you mean the original movement started by Rick Santelli and Jenny Beth Martin with the Tea Party Patriots, or the movement now known as "tea party" that is just extreme Republicans who bear little resemblance to Martin's philosophy or the TPP?

The Tea Party c. 2010 would have its support squarely behind Ted Cruz at this juncture. It is best represented by Senator Mike Lee of Utah. The newer group that has hijacked the name "tea party" is more mixed but probably favors Trump, who embodies the original group's philosophy less than any other candidate who ran for the GOP nomination.

[TJ in Oregon]

Rubio really does not like Cruz

I agree. I don't think he really likes the man or wanted Cruz to be the nominee if he couldn't be. But desperate times call for desperate measures. The Republican voters decided they prefer anger to pragmatism, so we must pick the least worst option remaining, which is clearly Cruz.

Kasich could have been the last man standing but he doesn't seem interested.

[Landslide Lyndon]

LOL at those people who believe that Kasich will be in any position to play a meaningful role at the convention. The guy isn't even able to field full slates of delegates in multiple states.