Subject: POLITICO's 2016 Blast: Super friends or super flop? — The Sanders trap — Primary rules tomorrow — 5 things you need to know
From: "POLITICO's 2016 Blast" <[email-masked]>
To: <[email-masked]>
Date: Mon, 25 Apr 2016 15:45:43 -0600

By Henry C. Jackson | 04/25/2016 05:43 PM EDT

JOHN AND TED'S EXCELLENT ADVENTURE: It took months for a much-hyped alliance to stop DONALD TRUMP to take shape. But, as POLITICO's Nick Gass reports, the alliance between TED CRUZ and JOHN KASICH got off to a rocky start - with Kasich immediately undermining it and Cruz getting hit with tough questions as he tried to pitch the deal as the best way to deny Trump the GOP nomination.

If it holds, the pact would present the most united front yet against Trump: It entails the Ohio governor ceding Indiana's May 3 primary to his Texan rival while Cruz stands down in New Mexico and Oregon. The math roughly works: Both New Mexico and Oregon award their 24 and 28 delegates proportionally, (on June 7 and May 17, respectively) while Indiana's 57 delegates are winner-take-all by district and statewide.

But it also plays right into Trump's narrative and he immediately blasted his opponents' "collusion" to underscore his core argument: The Republican establishment is corrupt and is rigging the system against the will of the voters.

It also didn't help the much-hyped alliance that Kasich didn't seem fully on board. Even Rush Limbaugh seemed to notice that: http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=afd53c395c3ee923fdf6b70b6d7ff00857839820a7d1865a3219297f693b3cf3 "I've never told them not to vote for me; they should vote for me," Kasich said about Indiana during a prickly exchange with reporters at a Philadelphia diner.

Read more at: http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=afd53c395c3ee9237fdd8d67612152b1f55fa01e53c782fc1f8f70a1e02eb9a9 

Monday, Monday. You're all we hoped you could be http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=afd53c395c3ee9234669a5e3109aafe4e502d91cf35d6ef08958025067ebd6cd - and so is your 2016 Blast. Henry C. Jackson (@henrycjjackson) is here to guide you through the day's campaign news, so send your tips, complaints and scorching hot takes to [email-masked].

WHAT MATTERS: Here are four more things we're watching today - and why they matter. 

2. PROPORTIONAL RESPONSE: So, DONALD TRUMP seemed to take news of an alliance against him in stride, right? Well, sure. If you consider assailing the eating habits of JOHN KASICH (http://goo.gl/06k5DY), giving Kasich a new, mocking nickname (http://goo.gl/2NHqXB) and decrying it as another sign the fix was in from party bigwigs (http://goo.gl/BP82T0) all in a normal day's work for Trump. A Trump adviser derided it as "extremely pathetic." (http://goo.gl/cTxUPL). But the truth is that an alliance, if it worked, would be the most and maybe the only effective tool to stop Trump from securing the number of delegates he needs to be the GOP nominee. His response - a mix of fury and a hailfire of
 insults - shows that he probably understands that, too.

3. A SLOWING BERN: Even if BERNIE SANDERS has the best night his team can imagine tomorrow - winning Rhode Island, surprising in Pennsylvania - he's likely to fall further behind HILLARY CLINTON in the race for Democratic delegates. As POLITICO's Gabriel Debenedetti reports, the Vermont senator is in a trap: He's done too well, financially and electorally, to quit. But it's exceedingly hard to see how he wins. http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=afd53c395c3ee92317b923d214fb669523aecf8ccc7c8205efa1b997529db44f How Sanders does tomorrow, and his tone beginning tomorrow night, will say a lot about where the Democratic race is headed. 

4. EAST COAST BIAS: The candidates made their final appeals to the five states voting tomorrow, and their approaches were telling what was or wasn't on their minds. HILLARY CLINTON didn't seem terrifically worried about her primary opponent. Instead, she mocked DONALD TRUMP's fly-in, fly-out campaign style and his wealth. http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=afd53c395c3ee923ca6a1b6f559b3c2aa8622e43580e9e3cd15638841b6e37e6 Trump went into great detail about his opponents eating habits. BERNIE SANDERS carried on his message of economic inequality. And TED CRUZ and JOHN KASICH were left to defend and explain (successfully, or unsuccessfully) their new alliance. http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=afd53c395c3ee9237110f5f470c2498fbd2edd895f7dd3a2b10b717a2e6bb080 

5. TOMORROWLAND: Spoiler alert: Barring a massive failure of polling, DONALD TRUMP is going to win all five northeastern states that vote Tuesday. The drama is in how many delegates those wins might be worth. In Pennsylvania, only 17 of 71 delegates go to the statewide winner, while the other 54 are elected directly on the primary ballot and are theoretically unbound from the start at the GOP convention. Delaware keeps it simple, with 16 winner-take-all delegates. And Maryland (38 delegates), Rhode Island (19 delegates) and Connecticut (16 delegates) all use some combination of statewide and congressional district-level results to divide the spoils. The common thread: If Trump is going to
 stay on pace for 1,237, he needs more than wins, he needs blowouts.

TRAIL MIX: Elsewhere on the campaign trail, CARLY FIORINA gets vetted, California Republicans are tired of spending, here comes Bobby Knight, HILLARY CLINTON doesn't want a Koch, rappers feel the Bern and TED CRUZ avoids the sack. 

CALL ME, MAYBE: TED CRUZ has begun vetting CARLY FIORINA as a potential vice presidential pick, POLITICO's Alex Isenstadt reports. http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=afd53c395c3ee92315a85223b629a80b0332b16a94fc55b16b5d8be4145a50ef 

BLAST NOTE: Having a VP pick is a way for Cruz to try and shape the idea that he can win the nomination ahead of a contested contest in Cleveland. Also, this will be the official Blast endorsed VP shortlist soundtrack henceforth: http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=afd53c395c3ee923f109a39bacf9e44a513ca5f5b1e829eee89765a7644c1974 

STONE ZONE: POLITICO's Glenn Thrush has a fascinating chat with Roger Stone - "DONALD TRUMP's Donald Trump" - for his "Off Message" podcast: http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=afd53c395c3ee9235400fa61e93c1f51909c08777f3f8f9ab090777a3d3174eb 

CALIFORNIA AUSTERITY: California Republicans have spent tens of millions of dollars on candidates who have already dropped out of the 2016 race, and they're now shutting their wallets. (Los Angeles Times) http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=afd53c395c3ee923cb762c3af8b622a4df78f5399cfb371b92e34654d9122e92 Though, a pro-DONALD TRUMP super PAC is now planning investment in California, POLITICO's Alex Isenstadt reports: http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=afd53c395c3ee92331ebe2ef3d38ba70dcfccf347aeb933d6bc51b3e2e2a3ea5 

CAMPAIGN ON THE BRINK: Legendary basketball coach Bobby Knight will campaign with DONALD TRUMP in Indiana. http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=afd53c395c3ee923fa7a9ab6f1823966e49bc353dc056ab22e1d58cc44e784db 

PREFERS PEPSI: After Charles Koch sounded kind of Clinton-curious this weekend, HILLARY CLINTON quickly shot down any talk of an endorsement. (AOL) http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=afd53c395c3ee923cd3d0e04577e6ce9b8812a4967f0f2520b7ca38b49c2579e 

RAPPERS DELIGHT: Lil Yachty explains that another rapper, Lil B, encouraged his activism for BERNIE SANDERS. (CNN)  http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=afd53c395c3ee923773a5fa18d5df960d387cc4355f292a3a3d85975e68bf175 

TAKING NO FLAC: TED CRUZ adroitly avoided a question about whether Baltimore Ravens quarterback Joe Flacco was "elite" while campaigning in Maryland. (ESPN) http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=afd53c395c3ee9234d0bcb0d7bbb50e24cff790462984f76323881d9cd56b81b 

BLAST NOTE: If Flacco showed similar moxie in the pocket, we'd call him in elite with no hesitation.

SING WHEN YOU'RE WINNING: Sen. Tom Carper led a Delaware crowd in a serenade of HILLARY CLINTON to "She Works Hard for the Money." http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=afd53c395c3ee9233d7eaa03beee362deb4190544cc41eef002b34be9abbb53e 

LOOKING AHEAD: Voters vote - in Pennsylvania, the biggest prize. And in Connecticut, Delaware, Maryland and Rhode Island. 

THEY SAID IT

"Me? No, I'm not desperate. Are you? 'Cause I'm not." http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=afd53c395c3ee923229618e1649a3260467c1517deb0fad9898fe97b0c360007 

- JOHN KASICH reacting to a question of whether forging an alliance with TED CRUZ was an act of desperation. 

MAGIC NUMBER
74. That's the percentage of millennials who have a negative opinion about DONALD TRUMP in a new Harvard Institute of Politics poll. http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=afd53c395c3ee923c95ecb1568df8b982767d37e0f6d986962a287daaa57e257 

FOLLOW @POLITICO'S politics team: @PoliticoCharlie, @POLITICO_Steve, @PoliticoAlex, @anniekarni, @GlennThrush, @EliStokols, @katieglueck, @schreckreports, @gdebenedetti, @Hadas_Gold, @ec_schneider, @kyledcheney , @theodoricmeyer, @MarcACaputo, @PoliticoKevin,@mikeallen, @dlippman, @Danielstrauss4, @henrycjjackson, @shanegoldmacher,@KristinPolitico, @PoliticoScott, @Patrick_C_Reis

To view online:
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=afd53c395c3ee923a52eba7ae18b1d508004c3a4f07a68c23f6039cb6a9f344d
 To change your alert settings, please go to http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=afd53c395c3ee92366ffe177b4e543c7be0e0b7d155dd5a0c74b215294898698 or http://click.politicoemail.com/profile_center.aspx?qs=57cf03c73f21c5ef65b9c058ca0f6cfa66691761e73177ec74e25f0459644758e1d18dfaf141721dc178ccf9e0e5cccef2131a16e3d0d78bThis email was sent to [email-masked] by: POLITICO, LLC 1000 Wilson Blvd. Arlington, VA, 22209, USA

To unsubscribe,http://www.politico.com/_unsubscribe?e=00000154-4f60-d2c9-a9fd-5ffcebef0000&u=0000014e-f112-dd93-ad7f-f917a8270002&s=03dc66bf7036c22acfa82da4af8dc670f1f4d5e04ad2a4bcd68c546acaeb3d1dfd6e6265f2e3c0761d8ef6d0da1e4a80ff4947bba3c47cdca71ef4923a5a7182