Selfish Kasich
by Juan Carlos Polanco, Esq., MBA
The GOP presidential primary circus is slowly winding down and those of us in the #NeverTrump movement are desperate to stop the train wreck in Cleveland. We find ourselves with one major obstacle, Governor John Kasich of Ohio.
Governor Kasich is a phenomenal candidate and has proven to be presidential, experienced, compassionate, conservative, and my kind of Republican. So why am I so angry at Kasich remaining in the race? I oppose him because mathematically he cannot win. Governor Kasich has no path to victory and by remaining in the race is assuring that Donald Trump goes to Cleveland with an overwhelming amount of delegates. Keep in mind that Senator Rubio has not been in this race in a month and still has more delegates than Governor Kasich.
Governor Kasich would need 112% of all remaining contests to win the nomination and 100% to make any dent in the delayed count. This is impossible. Every poll for the remaining state shows the governor winning zero states.
By remaining in the contest he takes votes from the only candidate that continuously beats Donald and is a Republican, Senator Ted Cruz from Texas.
Senator Ted Cruz is a conservative Republican and has made a name for himself as an ideologue. If I wrote that I agreed with him on all issues, I’d be lying. The Senator’s recent comments on patrolling areas where radical Islamic terrorists reside, I believe, was misconstrued to mean he’d racially profile Muslims. Something he has repeatedly rejected.
On immigration he’d enforce the laws like President Obama did before his recent executive orders DACA and DAPA. I would hope to join other like minded Republicans in helping our party find a solution to the problems of illegal immigration with a President Cruz.
But like millions of us who supported Senator Marco Rubio of Florida, we have united with Senator Cruz because he is a true Republican. Senator Cruz is, without a doubt, prepared to sit in the Oval Office, has the intellect to be President and won’t disparage portions of the electorate.
The #NeverTrump movement has to remain positive and know that we can stop Donald Trump at the convention. Governor Kasich offers a breath of fresh air to many of us who are sick and tired of Donald’s ignorant campaign. However, by splitting the anti Trump vote, he also offers the opportunity to hand more delegates to Trump in the remaining contests.
If Trump or Cruz fail to earn a majority of the delegates at the convention, I believe
the party will draft House Speaker Paul Ryan of Wisconsin as the compromise candidate well before selecting someone who ran in the primaries and lost in all but one state contest.
Governor Kasich has an opportunity to put country before self and support Senator Ted Cruz to prevent our party from being destroyed and allow for a man like Donald Trump to be closer to the most important office on the planet.
J.C. Polanco, Esq., MBA, teaches History, Latino Studies, Economic Development of the Dominican Republic and Caribbean at the City University of New York. Polanco is the NYC Director for the NY Assembly GOP, Republican contributor for Univision NY, appears regularly on NY1 Inside City Hall, Pura Politica and BronxNet.
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