How Kasich Staying In Helps Trump Win

First Read: “The Stop Trump movement is now picking up momentum with just a week to go until Super Tuesday (where 595 delegates are up for grabs on the Republican side). Yesterday, for instance, we saw more members of the GOP establishment — Sen. Orrin Hatch, Sen. Dan Coats, Gov. Asa Hutchinson, Bob Dole — endorse Marco Rubio. But maybe the biggest impediment to stopping Trump right now is … John Kasich.”

“Think about it: If you assume that a big chunk of the Jeb Bush vote goes to Rubio, that means that Rubio can rack up delegates under the proportional allocation formulas. But Rubio won’t be able to grow his percentages as long as Kasich is in the race and competing in Super Tuesday states like Georgia (where he campaigns today), Tennessee (where he’ll be Friday and Saturday). And with Kasich in the race, it’s possible that Trump could sweep the Super Tuesday states a week from now – he’s in striking distance in Texas, where the University of Texas/Texas Tribune poll has him trailing Ted Cruz there by just eight points (and that poll was taken before Saturday’s South Carolina results).”

“If you’re the GOP establishment, the good news is the Quinnipiac poll showing Kasich losing to Trump in his home state of Ohio. The bad news: We’re just a week out from Super Tuesday, and it doesn’t look like Kasich is going anywhere anytime soon.”