Ares
11th March 2016, 11:17 AM
Marco Rubio’s campaign says supporters of the Florida senator should back John Kasich in Ohio on Tuesday if they want to stop Donald Trump.
Republican presidential candidates have each called on voters to consolidate and unite behind their campaigns, but the Rubio campaign’s suggestion appears to be the fiercest example yet of the anti-Trump movement, aimed at doing whatever it takes to bar the New York billionaire from accruing the 1,237 delegates necessary to secure the Republican nomination outright.
Alex Conant, Rubio’s communications director, acknowledged that Kasich is the only candidate who can defeat Trump in Ohio, which awards all of its 66 delegates to the winner. “If you are a Republican primary voter in Ohio and you want to defeat Donald Trump, your best chance in Ohio is John Kasich,” Conant told CNN on Friday.
“The same is true here in Florida,” Conant said, emphasizing that Rubio is the candidate best positioned to beat the real-estate mogul in the state’s primary Tuesday for its 99 winner-take-all delegates.
“If you’re a voter and Marco Rubio is not necessarily your first choice — if you like John Kasich or you like Ted Cruz and you’re here in Florida, you need to vote for Marco Rubio because he’s the only one who can deprive Donald Trump of those 99 delegates,” he said. “And if we stop Donald Trump here in Florida, we can stop him in Cleveland. He will not be the Republican nominee.”
During a rally later Friday in West Palm Beach, Florida, Rubio said he never spoke to Kasich about such a strategy to deny Trump a victory in either delegate-rich state, but doubled down on Conant's stance. “Clearly, John Kasich has a better chance of winning Ohio than I do, and if a voter concludes that voting for John Kasich is our best chance of stopping Donald Trump, that's what they'll do,” he said.
A recent poll shows Kasich with a narrow lead over Trump in Ohio, while a series of Florida surveys show Rubio trailing the business magnate.
Kasich’s campaign, however, signaled on Friday they weren’t on board with encouraging supporters to vote for Rubio over Kasich anywhere.
“We were going to win in Ohio without his help, just as he’s going to lose in Florida without ours,” Kasich spokesman Rob Nichols said.
Mitt Romney last week urged Republicans to deny Trump as many delegates as possible by voting for the strongest non-Trump candidate in upcoming contests.
http://www.politico.com/blogs/2016-gop-primary-live-updates-and-results/2016/03/marco-rubio-ohio-kasich-220635
Republican presidential candidates have each called on voters to consolidate and unite behind their campaigns, but the Rubio campaign’s suggestion appears to be the fiercest example yet of the anti-Trump movement, aimed at doing whatever it takes to bar the New York billionaire from accruing the 1,237 delegates necessary to secure the Republican nomination outright.
Alex Conant, Rubio’s communications director, acknowledged that Kasich is the only candidate who can defeat Trump in Ohio, which awards all of its 66 delegates to the winner. “If you are a Republican primary voter in Ohio and you want to defeat Donald Trump, your best chance in Ohio is John Kasich,” Conant told CNN on Friday.
“The same is true here in Florida,” Conant said, emphasizing that Rubio is the candidate best positioned to beat the real-estate mogul in the state’s primary Tuesday for its 99 winner-take-all delegates.
“If you’re a voter and Marco Rubio is not necessarily your first choice — if you like John Kasich or you like Ted Cruz and you’re here in Florida, you need to vote for Marco Rubio because he’s the only one who can deprive Donald Trump of those 99 delegates,” he said. “And if we stop Donald Trump here in Florida, we can stop him in Cleveland. He will not be the Republican nominee.”
During a rally later Friday in West Palm Beach, Florida, Rubio said he never spoke to Kasich about such a strategy to deny Trump a victory in either delegate-rich state, but doubled down on Conant's stance. “Clearly, John Kasich has a better chance of winning Ohio than I do, and if a voter concludes that voting for John Kasich is our best chance of stopping Donald Trump, that's what they'll do,” he said.
A recent poll shows Kasich with a narrow lead over Trump in Ohio, while a series of Florida surveys show Rubio trailing the business magnate.
Kasich’s campaign, however, signaled on Friday they weren’t on board with encouraging supporters to vote for Rubio over Kasich anywhere.
“We were going to win in Ohio without his help, just as he’s going to lose in Florida without ours,” Kasich spokesman Rob Nichols said.
Mitt Romney last week urged Republicans to deny Trump as many delegates as possible by voting for the strongest non-Trump candidate in upcoming contests.
http://www.politico.com/blogs/2016-gop-primary-live-updates-and-results/2016/03/marco-rubio-ohio-kasich-220635