Kasich Campaign Press Release - NYT: Why Never Trump Should Mean Maybe Kasich

New York Times Editorial

With more than half of the 2016 presidential primary races in the history books, Republicans desperate to deny Donald Trump their party's nomination now say Wisconsin, where Ted Cruz is leading, will show that their effort has turned the tide. They shouldn't start bragging yet.

At a televised Republican town hall on Tuesday, it was painful to watch farmers, students and a man whose son died of a drug overdose pose earnest questions to Mr. Trump and Mr. Cruz, who were more interested in attacking each other. Only John Kasich connected with these voters.

Despite its noble aim and big budget, "Never Trump" has become a panicky reaction in search of a strategy. In Wisconsin, "Never Trump" means "How About Cruz?" as self-interested leaders like Gov. Scott Walker try to sell Republicans on a dangerously reactionary senator as an improvement over a dangerously ignorant businessman. But for the state's — and the nation's — moderate conservatives, "Never Trump" should more logically mean "Maybe Kasich..."

...In some coming states and districts, voter data indicates that Mr. Kasich, not the ultraconservative, evangelical Mr. Cruz, could be more competitive. Yet there's been no real effort by "Never Trump" leaders on Mr. Kasich's behalf. Indeed, some Republicans are pressuring the Ohio governor to quit and coalescing around Mr. Cruz, a candidate who was once almost as unthinkable to them as Mr. Trump and should still be.

This is happening even though the numbers are there to deprive Mr. Trump of the nomination without delivering it to Mr. Cruz on a platter, says Henry Olsen, of the Ethics and Public Policy Center, a conservative think tank in Washington. "If your goal is ‘Never Trump,' you should put your bets on the best candidate depending on the delegate allocation rules and the demographics of the state," he says.

This means "Never Trump" backers... would work to deliver Delaware, the San Francisco Bay area, the Philadelphia suburbs, and urban areas in New York State to Mr. Kasich...

... [I]n a year when cruelty and exclusion stand as hallmarks of conservatism, "It would be courageous to stand up and say that Kasich is a different kind of conservative," who doesn't see government, or foreigners, as enemies, Mr. Olsen says. "These voters exist, and there's a lot of them."

Mr. Cruz has been trying to bully Mr. Kasich from the race by billing himself as the only viable alternative to Mr. Trump. It would be ironic if Mr. Cruz became the candidate of a party whose leaders hate him. But if those leaders can't find it in themselves to take a more courageous path, they deserve whatever they get.