What I think is remarkable, however, is that Ted Cruz picked up zero delegates in the state, and actually performed much worse than John Kasich. This is not important in terms of mathematically stopping Trump (had Cruz picked up a dozen delegates and come in second, it likely wouldn’t have been dispositive). But it would have cemented Cruz’s position as the man to turn to should we get to Cleveland without a nominee.
Now, I was perhaps the first person to suggest the non-Trump candidates should forget about winning outright, and collude to deprive Trump of the nomination. This would necessarily entail picking your spots and conceding some states to Kasich. But Ted Cruz has consistently rejected this strategy, attempting to instead go head-to-head against Trump…
The fundamental problems remains this: You can’t beat somebody with nobody. Back in early March, I argued that Ted Cruz was the best-positioned non-Trump candidate to emerge from a contested convention. For that to happen, he needs to close the deal—not as the Republican front runner—but as the clear and obvious alternative to Donald Trump. Is that too much to ask?
