Photo credit: Dave Davidson – Prezography.com
Former Florida Governor Jeb Bush Wednesday said that he would endorse U.S. Senator Ted Cruz (R-TX) for President of the United States. The Cruz campaign released Bush’s statement:
Today, I am endorsing Ted Cruz for President. Ted is a consistent, principled conservative who has demonstrated the ability to appeal to voters and win primary contests. Washington is broken, and the only way Republicans can hope to win back the White House and put our nation on a better path is to support a nominee who can articulate how conservative policies will help people rise up and reach their full potential.
For the sake of our party and country, we must move to overcome the divisiveness and vulgarity Donald Trump has brought into the political arena, or we will certainly lose our chance to defeat the Democratic nominee and reverse President Obama’s failed policies. To win, Republicans need to make this election about proposing solutions to the many challenges we face, and I believe that we should vote for Ted as he will do just that.
Will people suddenly flock to Cruz’s campaign as a result of this endorsement? No because people didn’t flock to Bush’s own campaign. What this does do is green light his former fundraisers and donors who may have been on the sidelines still.
Ultimately the best thing that this does is put pressure on Ohio Governor John Kasich to drop out. This is a two person race, all he can do at this point is help Trump reach the magic number of 1237 before the convention.
It is mathematically impossible for Kasich to win, and extremely unlikely he would win at convention as well unless Rule 40 is adjusted/repealed and he is allowed to be on the first ballot. It’s pretty telling where his campaign is going when he comes in fourth in Arizona in a three-person race.
Kasich needs to go and hopefully Bush’s endorsement will provide the nudge he needs.