John Kasich is in it to win it—where the “it” he hopes to win is a contested Republican convention, because it is mathematically impossible for him to win the Republican nomination by collecting enough delegates through primary voting. That’s making a lot of anti-Trump Republicans unhappy, as they see Kasich making it more difficult for Ted Cruz to beat Donald Trump:
“Kasich's performance on Western Tuesday would have been enough to embarrass any lesser mortal out of the race,” National Review editor Rich Lowry, who has endorsed Cruz for president, wrote in a scathing editorial calling for Kasich to drop out. [...]
“He’s now a spoiler,” Rep. Matt Salmon, who first endorsed Rubio and now backs Cruz, told The Hill.
Kasich’s camp, on the other hand, says he’s the best chance to beat Hillary Clinton and keep Republican control of Congress, so he should be handed a win at the convention no matter how few delegates he earns through voting:
“In New Hampshire… if Ted Cruz is at the top of the ticket, we will likely lose that Senate seat,” [former New Hampshire Sen. John] Sununu said, arguing that a Trump nomination would also imperil GOP-held Senate seats in states like Pennsylvania, Ohio, and Wisconsin. “If Ted Cruz or Donald Trump are at the top of the ticket, we will likely lose control of the U.S. Senate.” Other aides compared their rivals candidates to candidates who lost general elections by blowout margins, like Barry Goldwater and George McGovern.
Kasich’s argument is designed to appeal to the #NeverTrump crowd and he’s certainly the most establishment-friendly candidate left in the Republican primary. No doubt a wide swath of Republican officials would much rather see Kasich as the nominee than Cruz, even if they’d prefer Cruz to Trump.
But Kasich is ignoring that, at a contested convention, the Republican establishment’s choices won’t be limited to the people who actually ran for president. They can pick Mitt Romney, or Paul Ryan, or Dick Cheney if they so choose. Going against the will of the plurality of Republican primary voters will be a bad look no matter what, but there’s a fair argument it would be a worse look to choose a guy who got beat—thrashed, even—over someone who voters at least didn’t actively reject this cycle.