Cruz campaign threatening to get Kasich kicked off Montana ballot

[yankeesfan]

http://www.greatfallstribune.com/story/news/politics/2016/03/30/montana-ted-cruz-questions-signatures-put-kasich-ballot/82437396/

HELENA — Ted Cruz’s presidential campaign is trying to knock opponent John Kasich off Montana’s primary by questioning signatures the Ohio governor’s campaign submitted to qualify for the ballot — another subplot in the unfolding political drama to derail Donald Trump’s presidential bid.

Emails obtained by The Associated Press show Cruz campaign officials have raised questions about the 622 signatures submitted by the Kasich campaign. A minimum of 500 valid signatures is required for a presidential candidate to qualify for the Montana ballot.

The Cruz campaign asserts Kasich’s petition contains signatures with invalid notaries, improper dates, mismatched phone numbers and illegible names, among other potential discrepancies.

“Because John Kasich’s campaign filed only 622 signatures, and the minimum number of signatures required under Montana law is 500, there is a reasonable probability that material defects with his petitions reduce the number of valid signatures below the required minimum,” the campaign said, “and John Kasich is therefore not eligible for placement on the ballot.”

As of Wednesday, the campaign had not filed a legal challenge.

[more in link]

[Antonio the Sixth]

Good. All who oppose Cruz must be crushed!

[#TheShadowyAbyss]

Poor Kasich, first PA with Rubio and now MT with Cruz.

[yankeesfan]

Poor Kasich, first PA with Rubio and now MT with Cruz.

It was also an issue in Illinois, but no one filed a legal challenge by the deadline.

http://www.upi.com/Top_News/US/2016/01/14/Kasich-falls-short-of-signatures-in-Illinois-wont-be-booted-from-ballot/8881452711757/

[Xing]

Is Cruz seriously worried about losing MT to Trump?

[SATW]

Kasich is a pathetic joke

[Gass3268]

Is Cruz seriously worried about losing MT to Trump?

If you look at where Trump did the best in Idaho and Wyoming, Trump has a shot in Montana, especially in the western part of the state.

[dax00]

Well, pollsters have made asses of themselves this election cycle more than any other. That, I figure, has been a mix of establishment bias and general incompetence - go hand in hand. Montana would be huge if Trump could pull it off.

[Seriously?]

Is Cruz seriously worried about losing MT to Trump?

No, but Kasich has no business staying in this race. You or I or anyone on Atlas Forum has the same mathematical chance as the mailman's son to win the Republican nomination on the first ballot.

He finished FOURTH in Arizona for crying out loud.

[PJ]

Good. All who oppose Cruz must be crushed!

Will you explain the justification for your ironic Cruz support or whatever this is? At least with Kasich you have a couple of moderated positions and a better performance by him increases the likelihood of a brokered convention. At least with Trump you have an attack on the Republican establishment, and arguably, some entertainment value (horrifying developments at his rallies notwithstanding). Cruz is literally everything wrong with the Republican Party and I can't see any leftist justification for his nomination*.

*possibly if he were the most likely candidate to lose, but that's not the case

[Antonio the Sixth]

Good. All who oppose Cruz must be crushed!

Will you explain the justification for your ironic Cruz support or whatever this is? At least with Kasich you have a couple of moderated positions and a better performance by him increases the likelihood of a brokered convention. At least with Trump you have an attack on the Republican establishment, and arguably, some entertainment value (horrifying developments at his rallies notwithstanding). Cruz is literally everything wrong with the Republican Party and I can't see any leftist justification for his nomination*.

*possibly if he were the most likely candidate to lose, but that's not the case

Cruz would be the weakest GE candidate, and his nomination, especially if it's fueled by the kind of dirty tricks he's pulled off so far, would guarantee Hillary's victory in November. While his views are utterly horrifying, they aren't horrifying in a way that has the potential to make any converts.

I also find him infinitely more entertaining than Drumpf.

[Antonio the Sixth]

Cruz would be the weakest GE candidate, and his nomination, especially if it's fueled by the kind of dirty tricks he's pulled off so far, would guarantee Hillary's victory in November.

I wouldn't be too sure about that. If his tricks worked in the primary, why wouldn't they work in the general? Either way, stop trying to make this ironic Cruz support a thing.

Dirty tricks always work better in primaries than in the general, due to increased media exposure and higher turnout. His positions and record are just to extreme, and he's ridiculously easy to paint as a hack who puts politics before the interests of the American people.

And I'm not trying to make anything "a thing". I'm trying to have whatever little fun I can get out of an unbelievably depressing election cycle.

[Kingpoleon]

When Rubio tried this in PA, he surrendered soon after.

[Seriously?]

Good. All who oppose Cruz must be crushed!

Will you explain the justification for your ironic Cruz support or whatever this is? At least with Kasich you have a couple of moderated positions and a better performance by him increases the likelihood of a brokered convention. At least with Trump you have an attack on the Republican establishment, and arguably, some entertainment value (horrifying developments at his rallies notwithstanding). Cruz is literally everything wrong with the Republican Party and I can't see any leftist justification for his nomination*.

*possibly if he were the most likely candidate to lose, but that's not the case

Let me ask you this: you have Hillary and Bernie in the race, both legitimately competing for the nomination and then you have, let's say Jim Webb. He's just lingering around, waiting for his home state to vote, playing spoiler to deny the nomination to both Hillary and Bernie to force a contested convention.

(I use Webb as an example because he's about as conservative to the Democrat base as Kasich is liberal to the Republican base). Webb has a 0.0% mathematically to win the nomination.

Assume you are either a middle of the road Dem (Hillary supporter) or a Progressive (and are feeling the Bern!). Are you pleased that Webb is still in the race so that the party elite can choose your candidate?

The overwhelming majority of Republicans have stood up against the establishment in this cycle, voting for either Cruz, Trump or Carson. In other cycles, Kasich would be long gone. He should be gone. Period.

[IceSpear]

Good. All who oppose Cruz must be crushed!

Will you explain the justification for your ironic Cruz support or whatever this is? At least with Kasich you have a couple of moderated positions and a better performance by him increases the likelihood of a brokered convention. At least with Trump you have an attack on the Republican establishment, and arguably, some entertainment value (horrifying developments at his rallies notwithstanding). Cruz is literally everything wrong with the Republican Party and I can't see any leftist justification for his nomination*.

*possibly if he were the most likely candidate to lose, but that's not the case

Let me ask you this: you have Hillary and Bernie in the race, both legitimately competing for the nomination and then you have, let's say Jim Webb. He's just lingering around, waiting for his home state to vote, playing spoiler to deny the nomination to both Hillary and Bernie to force a contested convention.

(I use Webb as an example because he's about as conservative to the Democrat base as Kasich is liberal to the Republican base). Webb has a 0.0% mathematically to win the nomination.

Assume you are either a middle of the road Dem (Hillary supporter) or a Progressive (and are feeling the Bern!). Are you pleased that Webb is still in the race so that the party elite can choose your candidate?

The overwhelming majority of Republicans have stood up against the establishment in this cycle, voting for either Cruz, Trump or Carson. In other cycles, Kasich would be long gone. He should be gone. Period.

But Kasich leaving the race isn't going to guarantee either Trump or Cruz wins a majority at this point. So the risk of the establishment stealing it is still there.

[Ljube]

Montana is Trump territory.

[SillyAmerican]

Good. All who oppose Cruz must be crushed!

Will you explain the justification for your ironic Cruz support or whatever this is? At least with Kasich you have a couple of moderated positions and a better performance by him increases the likelihood of a brokered convention. At least with Trump you have an attack on the Republican establishment, and arguably, some entertainment value (horrifying developments at his rallies notwithstanding). Cruz is literally everything wrong with the Republican Party and I can't see any leftist justification for his nomination*.

*possibly if he were the most likely candidate to lose, but that's not the case

Cruz would be the weakest GE candidate, and his nomination, especially if it's fueled by the kind of dirty tricks he's pulled off so far, would guarantee Hillary's victory in November. While his views are utterly horrifying, they aren't horrifying in a way that has the potential to make any converts.

I also find him infinitely more entertaining than Drumpf.

This is right on the mark. Cruz is playing typical dirty politics, which is exactly what people are looking to avoid. Say what you will about Trump, at least he campaigns and lets the chips fall where they may, without feeling the need to pull this kind of thing.