John Kasich – Warren Throckmorton

Could John Kasich Lead a Successful Third Party Challenge?

Since John Kasich dropped out of the race for the Republican presidential nomination, he has been at odds with his party over direction and support for Donald Trump. Now he is signaling a move to a possible third party run for president in 2020.

According to the Dayton Daily News, Kasich told Whoopi Goldberg on The Political View program that he believes he could win a primary in New Hampshire but not do well in Southern states where Trump is strong.

Despite being quite religious himself, Kasich never really caught on with evangelical voters during the Republican primaries. He was widely viewed as a moderate, a perception which might now help him in a deeply divided nation. At least that’s one way to look at it.

I like Kasich and supported him in the primaries. I would support him as an independent but I don’t know if there are enough voters who would be willing to take the risk on a third party. Even though I think he is a good mix of principle and pragmatism, he was not able to inspire widespread support in 2016. It remains to be seen if the conditions are right for him now.

Image: From Johnkasich.com

PA Primary News: Donald Trump's PA Delegates Disclosed #NeverTrump

In Pennsylvania tomorrow, GOP voters will be confronted with a choice of John Kasich, Donald Trump, Ted Cruz, Marco Rubio, Jeb Bush, and Ben Carson. They also will be asked to vote for delegates to the GOP convention in Cleveland. The ballot doesn’t spell out which candidate each delegate has committed to vote for at the convention. Some will remain uncommitted and others might be persuaded to switch, making PA delegates very popular between now and the GOP convention.
Political website PoliticsPA published a list of delegates who are pledged to Donald Trump. For those #nevertrump PA readers, this could be a handy help going into tomorrow.
Review the list.
Trump has 41 delegates in 15 districts committed to him.
According Former KKK Grand Wizard David Duke, Donald Neuhaus has pledged for Trump in the 14th District. He also has a handy list. One wonders where he got it.
Here is something more official from the Trump campaign.

Politifact's Rating of GOP Candidates – John Kasich Is Most Accurate

Everybody makes mistakes. I certainly don’t expect presidential candidates to be flawless in their public statements. They speak constantly and answer questions on a broad spectrum of topics. They will misspeak.
On the other hand, a consistent record of incorrect claims implies either lack of care for truth or an unacceptable ignorance when it comes to important issues. Motives are hard to discern but fact checking can get us closer to the truth.
The folks at Politifact compiled a report card for the GOP candidates which I summarize here. John Kasich leads the way with over half of his claims (53%) being rated as true or mostly true. Cruz is a distant second with 22% being rated as true or mostly true. Trump is far behind with only 8% of his claims rated as mostly true or true. See the images below for the full report.
John Kasich

Ted Cruz

Donald Trump

If Trump gets the nomination, the GOP will reject the candidate who is the most factual, best liked, and most likely to beat Hillary in favor of the one who is the least factual, least liked, and least likely to defeat Hillary in November.
Brilliant.

I'm a Republican and I Need a Mechanic. Who Should I Choose?

Let’s play I’m a Republican and I need a…

This won't be cheap... — This won’t be cheap…

I’m a Republican and I need my car fixed. I could go to a guy who isn’t a mechanic but says he can fix anything, a guy who says he’s a mechanic but hasn’t fixed anything, or a guy who has been a successful mechanic for over 25 years.
Who should I pick?
Lately, I think most Republicans would pick the overly confident non-mechanic or the guy who is a mechanic but hasn’t fixed many, if any, cars.
Or I’m a Republican and I need major surgery. I could select a guy who isn’t a surgeon but says he can cure anything, a guy who says he’s a surgeon but once closed down the operating room, or a surgeon who has been doing surgery well for over 25 years.
Who should I pick?
Lots of Republicans are saying we don’t like the mechanics and surgeons we have now. GOP voters are turning to those who have little or no experience, instead of finding a well qualified and experienced mechanic or surgeon. They seem to be willing to roll the dice with someone who unrealistically thinks he can fix anything (Trump) or someone who hasn’t fixed anything much (Cruz) instead of the person who has a record of fixing things (Kasich). This doesn’t seem like a strategy for long term success.

World Magazine Examines John Kasich's Chances for a GOP Convention Upset

I appreciate World for taking a serious look at John Kasich’s chances for a GOP convention upset.
In one article earlier this week, political scholar Henry Olsen told Marvin Olasky there is a pathway for Gov. Kasich to the nomination.
In a second article by J.C. Derrick, the possibility of a Kasich-Cruz partnership is examined. While I really want to see Trumped stopped, I can’t see Kasich or Cruz going for it. Kasich is dead set against deporting 12 million illegal immigrants and Cruz wants to do that and never let them back in — women and children and all. Kasich understands the humanitarian disaster that would be. Cruz seems oblivious to these concerns.
Cruz polls poorly against Hillary Clinton while Kasich beats her handily. Adding Cruz to Kasich may take away that edge. Kasich has been saying lately that the GOP has had 10 contested conventions and in seven of them the candidate with the most votes going in didn’t get the nomination. Kasich hopes for lightening to strike again this year.