Over the weekend, U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) and Ohio Gov. John Kasich made headlines by agreeing to a “Divide and Conquer” plan to prevent Republican presidential front-runner Donald Trump from winning enough delegates for a first-ballot majority at the national convention in July.
And, already, it appears there are cracks forming in that alliance.
Under the plan that was announced and confirmed by both campaigns late Sunday, Kasich would stop campaigning in Indiana to concede victory to Cruz in that state. Meanwhile, the senator would stop campaigning in Oregon and New Mexico, which are viewed as states where there governor is more suited to winning.
During an appearance Monday in Indiana, Cruz celebrated the “one-on-one” contest with Trump that he has long sought.
“It is big news today that John Kasich has decided to pull out of Indiana to give us a head to head contest with Donald Trump,” he said. “That is good for the men and women of Indiana. It’s good for the country to have a clear and direct choice.”
And then Kasich, while on the stump in Philadelphia, rained on his parade. While acknowledging he was done campaigning in Indiana, he said his agreement was only to stop expending campaign resources in the state.
“I’ve never told them not to vote for me,” he said of Hoosier State Republicans. “They ought to vote for me.”
The announcement Sunday of the plan to “Divide and Conquer” in an effort to prevent Trump from winning the nomination was more formal, but was eerily similar to the “agreement” brokered between the Kasich camp and U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio’s campaign. Kasich didn’t stop campaigning in Florida, and Rubio lost his home state, while the Ohio governor won his.
Less than a week after making the “last-ditch deal,” Rubio was out of the race.
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