John Kasich Not Ready to Ride the Trump Train

Remember Ohio Governor and son-of-a-mailman, John Kasich?

In case your memory is a bit hazy, he’s the guy who nonsensically stayed in the presidential race until the very end, long after any mathematical chance of winning the nomination was past.

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He stayed even after Senator Marco Rubio, who had more delegates, had dropped out.

He stayed until after Senator Ted Cruz had dropped his bid, prompting many to question whether he was simply there to act as spoiler for Donald Trump.

With mission accomplished and Trump as the GOP’s presumptive nominee, Kasich has joined Senators Rubio and Cruz in requesting that the delegates he won during his primary run stay bound to him through the convention.

From a Fox News story today:

Kasich thinks that holding onto them will force or at least persuade Trump to run a more positive general election campaign and try harder to unify the party, a Kasich aide told The Washington Post, which first reported the story.

According to The Washington Post, Kasich on Monday told party officials that the 161 delegates he won in state primaries and caucuses should keep their allegiance to him through the Cleveland convention.

At this point, neither Kasich, Cruz, or Rubio have formally endorsed nominee Trump. Rubio stopped short of an actual endorsement when he gave a lukewarm statement that he would support the nominee, in order to stop Hillary Clinton from winning the White House.

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Kasich sent letters to party officials in 16 states regarding his plans:

“’I appreciate the work of the party during this primary season, and I thank the voters of Ohio for putting their faith in me. Although I have suspended by campaign, I do not release any Delegates bound to me,’ Kasich reportedly wrote Ohio Republican Party Chairman Matt Borges.”

It may be a concerted effort between he and the two senators to bring Trump to heel, or it may be an effort to force a floor fight at the convention.

Time will tell.

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