The two presidential candidates that started an alliance with each other have both dropped out of the presidential race. Cruz and Kasich’s alliance didn’t go as planned; in fact, the total opposite of what they wanted, happened. In late April, Cruz and Kasich joined forces in an effort to deny Trump the Republican presidential nomination of 1237 delegates. Their plan was to have Cruz focus on Indiana, while Kasich focused on Oregon and New Mexico, where the other person did not campaign in the other places. However; the alliance quickly weakened when Kasich still wanted Indiana’s votes.
As the alliance weakened, America watched as both their campaigns went down hill. Not only did the plan not go far enough (it did not extend to the other 13 remaining primaries), but Trump was leading both of them with single digits.
Cruz was the first to drop out of the two last Tuesday. Why? Because the alliance did not work. Trump, who originally said that the alliance was “desperate,” had won Indiana. Cruz had invested all his resources in Indiana, yet still had lost. He dropped out with Carly Fiorina and his family by his side. Cruz recently said that if Rubio paired up with him as a running mate, they could have stopped Trump, but it’s too late for that now. As for Governor Kasich? He dropped out of the race a day after his former fellow candidate.
Kasich did not have a lot to say about his decision as reporters followed him everywhere the following days. It seemed that the Governor of Ohio was in it more for the journey than the destination. As he announced his suspension of his campaign, he said that “the lord…will fulfill the purpose of [his] life,” and that the people of America had “changed [him]” for the better. He ended his campaign the same way he began it, with the belief that God is leading him through all his decisions.
Now that both of them have dropped out, what are their next steps? Kasich could be a contender for vice President if Trump takes the win. Trump seemed to agree with the idea, by saying he could be interested. Although Trump appears to be fascinated with the notion, Kasich had earlier insisted that he would not be anyone’s running mate: “If George Washington came back from the dead, I might think about it with him, but that’d be about it.”
One of the former candidates was called out during Obama’s last Correspondents' Dinner. Obama was making jokes about the other candidates and then said “meanwhile there are some candidates who are not polling high enough to qualify for their own joke tonight,” then he put up a picture of Kasich stuffing his face with food. That’s a memorable ending to a campaign if I’ve ever seen one.
