“Given the current delegate-selection process”, Romney said, “this means that I would vote for Marco Rubio in Florida, for John Kasich in OH, and for Ted Cruz or whichever one of the other two contenders has the best chance of beating Mr. Trump in a given state”.
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Trump was picking up an endorsement from onetime rival Ben Carson before heading to St. Louis and Chicago; John Kasich headed for his must-win home state of Ohio; Rubio made his home-stand in Florida and Cruz was shuttling from Florida to IL.
Marco Rubio effectively pleaded with Ohio Republicans to get out and vote Tuesday – for John Kasich.
Trump claimed that voters are turning to the Republican Party, and he said he thinks the Republican establishment “should embrace what’s happening.” . “That is indisputable. Everybody would say that”. Both Ohio and Florida are winner-take-all, and Conant said Friday that any vote in Florida not for Rubio “is effectively a vote for Donald Trump”.
Rubio added that nearly two in three Republicans do not want Trump to be the nominee, despite his delegate lead. Ted Cruz at 17 percent and Ohio Gov. John Kasich at 8 percent.
In the race for Republican delegates, Trump has 459, Cruz 360, Rubio 152 and Kasich 54.
“I don’t think there’s any long-term permanent peace solution and I think pursuing that is the wrong thing to do”, said Kasich.
Rubio had several memorable debate lines – and in a good way this time. “We have to get rid of all the litigation that’s going to happen”.
“We’ve never targeted innocent civilians and we’re not going to start now”, Cruz said.
On Thursday, the Hamilton Journal-News in Butler County, Ohio, noted that while unemployment is down in Ohio, wages remain a source of frustration. “And that’s the frustration that is boiling over”, Cruz said when asked if he was concerned that the behavior of some of Trump’s supporters would hurt the Republican Party in the general election. “I’m interested in being correct”.
“We don’t want to lock the doors and pull the blinds and leave the world, because frankly if we do that, prices will go up, people will buy less, other people will be out of work”, he said.
“I’m not interested in being politically correct – I’m interested in being correct”, he said, continuing that the USA depends on the support of Muslims to fight ISIS and that there are loyal American soldiers who are adherents of Islam.
The themes of the night were nearly entirely policy oriented, with a few forays into political process and tiffs over who was doing better or more likely to win in November if nominated.
Kasich actually isn’t in the lead in OH polls, but he’s virtually tied.
Florida Senator Marco Rubio fired back at Trump calling his stance “an anti-Israeli policy”, and asserted his own belief that any territory transferred to the Palestinians would turn into an attack on Israel.
But the strategy backfired: after votes were counted in Michigan, Mississippi, Idaho and Hawaii on Tuesday, Rubio walked away with zero delegates.
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“If in fact I win OH, then we’re probably going to go to a (contested) convention”, Kasich told reporters earlier this month. Sometimes being positive isn’t all that interesting, but it’s very interesting to my family, my children and so many supporters that I meet all across the country, and I will continue to run a positive campaign.
