Ohio Gov. John Kasich said Tuesday that a newly-announced alliance with Sen. Ted Cruz in several upcoming states in the GOP presidential race doesn’t involve his telling voters what to do, saying when a candidate doesn’t campaign in certain areas, turnout goes down.
“I’m not telling anybody anything in Indiana [because] I’m not campaigning in Indiana,” Mr. Kasich said on NBC’s “Today” program. “But I don’t tell voters what to do. Voters are smart enough to figure out what they want to do.”
“This whole business is about stopping Hillary Clinton from being president,” he said. “I have laid out a strategy, and I have not told anybody to not vote for me. I’m just not there campaigning.”
“And you know what? When you don’t campaign in certain areas in any kind of a race, guess what? Your turnout goes down,” Mr. Kasich said.
In a bid to stop GOP front-runner Donald Trump from securing the Republican presidential nomination, the Cruz and Kasich campaigns recently announced they would essentially get out of each other’s way in several upcoming states. Mr. Kasich is supposed to clear the way for Mr. Cruz in Indiana, which votes May 3, while Mr. Cruz is supposed to give Mr. Kasich a path in Oregon and New Mexico.
Public polls have shown Mr. Trump with comfortable leads in the handful of states that are voting on Tuesday: Maryland, Pennsylvania, Delaware, Connecticut, and Rhode Island.
“I’m going to be going on Thursday to Oregon. Ted Cruz is not going to Oregon. He may be in Indiana. I’m not going to Indiana. I’m not spending resources there. I’m not going on television,” Mr. Kasich said.
“The fact of the matter is, I’m not over there doing town halls, I’m not over there running television ads. We’ll see how it all turns out,” he said.
“You guys are too hung up on process,” Mr. Kasich said.
• David Sherfinski can be reached at dsherfinski@washingtontimes.com.
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