Kasich & Cruz Team Up To Topple Trump

News of an agreement between the GOP’s other two candidates to keep Donald Trump from securing the nomination before the Republican National Convention in July.
 

By Rhonda FanningApril 25, 2016 2:05 pm

Keen political strategy, last-ditch effort, or a “horrible act of desperation” (Donald Trump’s words, of course) could describe an alliance between Texas Sen. Ted Cruz and Ohio Gov. John Kasich. The two campaigns reached a deal last night to cede certain states to one another in an attempt to stop Trump from reaching the 1,237 delegates needed to secure the nomination.

So how will this team-up of rivals to topple the frontrunner work? Todd Gillman, Washington Bureau Chief for the Dallas Morning News, sheds light on this extraordinary deal.

Gillman says Indiana is an example of a primary in which Cruz is stronger than Kasich but not strong enough to do damage to Trump.

“If Kasich is in the race and it’s a three-way, Trump wins by plurality by about 12 or 15 points,” he says, “but if Kasich drops out Cruz is within 2 percentage points. That’s makes a very big difference.”

Indiana awards 17 of their 57 delegates automatically to whoever wins the primary. “That 17 could be the difference between Trump being over or under the 1,237 magic number needed to clench,” Gillman says.

The current tradeoff is Kasich staying out of Indiana, while Cruz stays out of Oregon and New Mexico down the road.

What you’ll hear in this segment:

– The other states hanging in the balance

– What staying out of the race in specific states actually means if the candidates’ names will still linger on the ballot

– How this agreement plays into Trump’s narrative of a corrupt campaign and being victim of Republican attacks

This post was prepared for the web by Hannah McBride.