Apparently, both Ted Cruz and John Kasich have realized what I wrote earlier today, which is that if Trump wins Indiana, this thing is all but over. They have also realized that Kasich’s campaign is the main reason Trump stands to win Indiana. Accordingly, they have apparently cut a deal in which Kasich will essentially withdraw from Indiana, in return for Cruz withdrawing from Oregon and New Mexico.

From the Kasich campaign’s press release:

KASICH CAMPAIGN STATEMENT ON UPCOMING PRIMARIES

Kasich Will Marshal Campaign Resources to New Mexico and Oregon, Allow Cruz to Focus on Indiana 

 

Tonight, Kasich for America chief strategist John Weaver issued the following statement: 

 

“Donald Trump doesn’t have the support of a majority ofRepublicans – not even close, but he currently does have almost half the delegates because he’s benefited from the existing primary system. Our goal is to have an open convention in Cleveland, where we are confident a candidate capable of uniting the Party and winning in November will emerge as the nominee. We believe that will be John Kasich, who is the only candidate who can defeat Secretary Clinton and preserve our GOP majority in the Congress.

 

Due to the fact that the Indiana primary is winner-take-all statewide and by congressional district, keeping Trump from winning a plurality in Indiana is critical to keeping him under 1237 bound delegates before Cleveland. We are very comfortable with our delegate position in Indiana already, and given the current dynamics of the primary there, we will shift our campaign’s resources West and give the Cruz campaign a clear path in Indiana. 

 

In turn, we will focus our time and resources in New Mexico and Oregon, both areas that are structurally similar to the Northeast politically, where Gov. Kasich is performing well. We would expect independent third-party groups to do the same and honor the commitments made by the Cruz and Kasich campaigns. 

 

We expect to compete with both the Trump and Cruz campaigns in the remaining primary states.”

Listen, Cruz was probably in a better position to win both New Mexico and Oregon than Kasich. However, Cruz is not negotiating with a rational person who has the best interests of America at heart; he was negotiating with a crazy and deluded narcissist, and he was negotiating against a deadline, so this was likely the only play he had. The word had to get out as soon as possible to Kasich’s people to preserve any hope of winning in Indiana.

Really, John Kasich should suspend his campaign. He has no chance of winning and every state he remains in just gives more delegates to Trump. But Kasich is willing to gamble the future of this country on his own campaign, so here we are.