Kasich at CPAC predicts a contested GOP convention
John Kasich told a crowd at the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) that he’s putting his money on the likelihood of a contested Republican convention where no candidate comes in with the nomination secured.
{mosads}“I don’t think anybody is going to get that,” the presidential contender said Friday when asked if someone will win the majority of delegates ahead of July’s convention.
“As crazy as this year is — theres no one here who would say this isn’t nuts — can you think about anything cooler than a convention?”
Kasich has long said his path toward viability is winning his home state of Ohio. He said that it is “unlikely” that any candidate could win the majority of delegates before the convention in July, adding that any candidate not named Donald Trump would have to win more than 50 percent of the delegates outstanding in order to lock up the nomination ahead of the convention.
The contested convention is likely the only viable path for Kasich, who is lagging by hundreds of delegates behind the rest of the field.
While the Ohio governor smiled as he talked about the possibility of a contested convention, he warned that the party elites can’t control the process once it gets there.
“It has to be done fairly … you can’t have a bunch of people in smoke-filled rooms,” he said. “My only fear of the convention is that these connected interests would dominate.”
Kasich continued his optimistic message in his speech preceding the question-and-answer session with Fox News’s Sean Hannity. He argued that politicians can’t defeat Trump with attacks, as rivals Marco Rubio and Ted Cruz have furiously tried, but instead need to use kindness.
“You will not beat him by smearing him, you will beat him by having a vision and record who shows people who are frustrated,” he said.
“The key is who has the record and vision, not just political jiberish,” he said. “I’ve already done these things I just want to get back and do it again.”
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