Mitch Perry
John Kasich dropped out of the Republican race for president yesterday, conceding he won’t be the “White Knight” fantasized by #NeverTrump acolytes over the past few months.
The Ohio governor’s departure came less than 24 hours after Ted Cruz “suspended” his campaign, so now we have a full half-a-year to contemplate a Trump–Clinton showdown in November.
Although at times it seemed a bit embarrassing, Kasich’s decision to remain in the race despite the fact that he only captured one state and ultimately finished with fewer delegates than Marco Rubio always made sense. That’s because of one simple fact: public opinion polls consistently showed that unlike Trump, Cruz, Rubio, Jeb Bush or any other Republican running, Kasich actually had enough general election potential to become president. If you were to have a contested convention, why not just choose the man who had hung in the race and was a candidate who could go the distance (although the RNC Grand Poohbahs would have had to have changed the rules about the nominee having to win eight primaries or caucuses).
However, like every other Republican other than Trump, GOP primary voters simply weren’t compelled to vote for him.
Kasich was the last Republican to officially to enter the race, announcing his candidacy last July. He immediately jumped to the forefront of what at the time was considered the serious, top-tier candidates who had the credentials to go far.
You know, that same list that included, Bush, Rubio and Scott Walker.
But as CNN reported, whether it was his plan to use a New Hampshire win to vault himself into contention in the states that followed (he finished second), or a big win in Michigan to vault him into his Midwest swing (he finished third), or the clear advantage he claimed to hold in the Northeast and mid-Atlantic (second or third in all), seemingly little that Team Kasich predicted would occur actually happened, other than taking his home state of Ohio.
If folks are mentioning Rubio as a possible running mate (and they are), you can bet they’ll throw Kasich in the mix. The fact that he was an operator on Capitol Hill for a long time and, yes, he’s from the crucial battleground state of Ohio, will keep his name in the media until he vows he doesn’t want it to be. And with the RNC taking place in Cleveland, he’ll be a presence at the convention.
Speaking of Rubio, the Florida senator was hammered for missing so much time on his day job in Washington, but curiously, you rarely heard criticism of Kasich taking so much time off from his duties as Ohio governor to do the same thing.
So if nothing else, Kasich can now get back to work and actually do his job, and hopefully, do it well.
In other news …
The economic analysis paid for by the Tampa/Hillsborough Film & Digital Media Commission says the county commission’s $250,000 incentive plan for the producers of the upcoming film, “The Infiltrator” provided a nearly 4:1 return on investment.
The West Central Florida Federation of Labor has opted not to endorse in the three-way battle for the Hillsborough County Clerk of the Courts race.
Miami Beach Mayor Philip Levine to propose raising the minimum wage so that everybody who works in his city will make at least $13.31 an hour.
Philip Stoddard, the Mayor of South Miami, says he’d like to build a “Wall of Shame” in his region for all the Florida lawmakers who’ve done nothing to fight climate change.
Now that Eric Lynn is out of the race for Congressional District 13, Rick Kriseman is now on the record as backing Charlie Crist in that contest.
Mark Ober’s fundraising numbers are up in his race for re-election for Hillsborough State Attorney, and he’s got powerful businessman John Sykes asking his supporters for more.
And Lake Worth activist Cara Jennings has more to say to Rick Scott in a new video.
