Ryan Political Daddy, Mitt Romney Says He'll Hold His Nose And Vote For Cruz To Derail Trump

Mitt Romney is one of the men behind the curtain in the Paul Ryan For President non-campaign. He so wants to guarantee a deadlocked, brokered convention-- with or without rioting-- that he's actually caucuses for Ted Cruz next week. It's not that he wants or expects Cruz to win, it's just that he figures that's the best shot to keep Utah's delegates out of Trump's clutches. Mittens' faux-endorsement of Cruz: "At this stage, the only way we can reach an open convention is for Senator Cruz to be successful in as many of the remaining nominating elections as possible."

Today, there is a contest between Trumpism and Republicanism. Through the calculated statements of its leader, Trumpism has become associated with racism, misogyny, bigotry, xenophobia, vulgarity and, most recently, threats and violence. I am repulsed by each and every one of these.

The only path that remains to nominate a Republican rather than Mr. Trump is to have an open convention. At this stage, the only way we can reach an open convention is for Senator Cruz to be successful in as many of the remaining nominating elections as possible.

I like Governor John Kasich. I have campaigned with him. He has a solid record as governor. I would have voted for him in Ohio. But a vote for Governor Kasich in future contests makes it extremely likely that Trumpism would prevail.

I will vote for Senator Cruz and I encourage others to do so as well, so that we can have an open convention and nominate a Republican.

Kasich begs to differ. Predictably enough, the well-liked Kasich and the near-universally detested Cruz are already attacking each other.

“There are only two people who actually have a viable path to the nomination,” Jason Johnson, Mr. Cruz’s chief strategist, told reporters. “There’s one spoiler in the race: John Kasich.”

Mr. Johnson likened Mr. Kasich’s run to some quixotic ambitions of his own. “It’s like my dream of making the senior tour on the P.G.A. or my dream of being a Nascar driver,” he said. “It ain’t going to happen.”

Mr. Kasich countered on Wednesday by suggesting that Mr. Cruz, along with Mr. Trump, was too extreme to attract wide support in the fall.

“Neither of those guys can win a general election,” he told reporters after a town hall-style event outside Philadelphia. “So maybe they’re spoiling it for the Republican Party and for the conservative movement.”

...Johnson hinted that a look at Mr. Kasich’s résumé might be in order.

“He has an interesting record that’s gone without examination,” he said coyly.

A spokesman for Mr. Kasich, Chris Schrimpf, welcomed an examination of the governor’s record both in Ohio and during his time in Congress. “Let’s compare Governor Kasich’s record when he was in Washington to Ted Cruz’s,” Mr. Schrimpf said. “What is Ted Cruz’s greatest accomplishment?”

If Mr. Cruz does plan to escalate hostilities, he seems likely to highlight Mr. Kasich’s decision to expand Medicaid in Ohio under the Affordable Care Act, a decision that puts him at odds with many conservatives.

Mr. Kasich has largely avoided offering direct criticism of other candidates, and his positivity is now at the center of his message, so it is not likely that he will go after Mr. Cruz in a direct way. Still, he has offered hints of how he views the senator’s campaign promises. At a town hall event in Michigan last week, he asked audience members to raise their hands if they believed that a year from now, after the election, the Internal Revenue Service would not exist and the country would have a 10 percent flat tax-- two planks of Mr. Cruz’s campaign.

“Not one hand has gone up!” Mr. Kasich observed.