Subject: RE: Kasich’s Hypocrisy in IN & OH Press Call Coverage
From: "Helmstetter, TJ" <[email-masked]>
To: "Price, Jenna" <[email-masked]>, Comm_D <[email-masked]>
Date: Wed, 27 Apr 2016 06:39:30 -0700

http://www.idsnews.com/article/2016/04/kasich-stops-indiana-campaign-but-stays-for-private-fundraiser

Kasich stops Indiana campaign but stays for private fundraiser

Only 622 delegates are still available for the Republican race after polls closed for five East Coast primaries Tuesday night.

Presidential candidate Donald Trump’s lead  continued, claiming 950 delegates. In response, John Kasich opted to undercut Trump’s efforts by halting his Indiana campaign.

Kasich’s reallocation of resources was simultaneous with Ted Cruz’s Sunday announcement to focus his attention on Indiana and “clear the path for Governor Kasich to compete in Oregon and New Mexico.”

But then, in a diner in Philadelphia, Kasich told reporters if Hoosiers want to vote for him, “they ought to.”

Although it’s not unprecedented for candidates to skip over certain states, the agreement between Kasich and Cruz created a media storm.

“I don’t see this as any big deal other than the fact that I’m not going to spend resources in Indiana, (Ted Cruz) is not going to spend resources in other places,” Kasich said to the media Monday. “So what? What’s the big deal?”

Kasich cited funds as the motivator for the change.

“I don’t have, like, Daddy Warbucks behind me giving all this money,” he said Monday. “I have to be careful about my resources.”

Kasich did not cancel his private fundraiser in Indianapolis on Tuesday evening. In fact, Sunday’s announcement generated more fundraising interest from voters, said Pete Seat, senior project manager for Hathaway Strategies, the company handling Kasich’s Indiana campaign.

The real win comes from the delegates, though,  Seat said.

“It’s a delegate game, right,” Seat said. “In order to make sure Donald Trump doesn’t get the nomination on the first ballot, it’s about picking up delegates where you can.”

Indiana will send 57 delegates to the national convention this summer. Of those, 27 delegates represent congressional districts and therefore must vote for the candidate who wins in the district.

A separate 27 delegates are considered “at-large,” meaning they must vote for the candidate who wins the state. The three remaining delegates are bound to the Republican National  Convention.

After the April 26 Super Tuesday, Kasich is trailing behind nationally at 153 delegate votes, compared to Cruz’s 560, according to the Associated Press at the time of press.

However, Kasich’s campaign felt comfortable with its position with Indiana delegates, said John Weaver, Kasich for America chief strategist, in a statement.

“Ultimately people need to make the choice that they think is best,” Seat said. “If they want a second ballot especially, they need to make a smart decision when they go to the polls.”

Mathmetically, only Trump can win the GOP nomination on the first ballot. The alliance between Kasich and Cruz was designed to stop Trump from passing the 1,237-delegate threshold, therefore giving him the Republican nomination outright, according to both their websites.

If no candidate reaches this threshold, the nomination goes to a second ballot and delegates can vote for any candidate they choose.

However, this process can be a bit confusing to the average voter.

“I understand that the average voter doesn’t understand that and that this has been a very different election cycle,” Seat said. “It’s exposed the process to more people. There is an important distinction between something that materialized out of nowhere versus something that has been the process in which we nominate people for decades.”

Focusing on delegates rather than voters can be off-putting, Ohio Democratic Party Chair David A. Pepper said during a media conference call with Indiana Democratic Party Chair  John Zody.

“The more voters view politics as a game that’s not about them, the more they disengage and the more upset they get,” Pepper said. “They are seeing what seems, right now, as a political game in Indiana.”

Pepper criticized Kasich for not focusing or winning in his border states.

“I think it leaves voters who are clearly already frustrated, already frustrated with the Republican party, thinking, ‘Hey, these guys, this is just a game to them,’” Pepper said. “This isn’t a vision about how to help make Indiana a better state or the country a better country.”

Even from an opposing view, Pepper said he thought the joint attack against Trump actually hurt the other Republican candidates.

“Again, I’m a Democrat watching from the outside, but it does seem to play to Donald Trump’s hand,” Pepper said. “For some of these folks, it is a game and it’s not really about the issues that Indiana families care about or Ohio families care about.”

From the Republican standpoint, the shared goal is to beat Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton, Seat said. To achieve this, Republican voters need to buy into the Kasich-Cruz alliance.

“If they’re okay with Donald Trump being the nominee and being defeated by Hillary Clinton in a spectacular fashion, then that’s what they should do,” Seat said. “If that’s not what they want to see, then they need to make the smart choice.”

From: Price, Jenna
Sent: Tuesday, April 26, 2016 6:39 PM
To: Comm_D
Subject: RE: Kasich’s Hypocrisy in IN & OH Press Call Coverage

Broadcast clip from WHIO- TV:

WATCH<https://toolbox.dnc.org/?tool_name=vantage%20uploader&path=vantageuploader.dnc.org/videos/shared_show?jwt=eyJ0eXAiOiJKV1QiLCJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiJ9.eyJpYXQiOjE0NjE3MDkzMDIsImVtYWlsIjoibG9nYW5vQGRuYy5vcmciLCJpZCI6MzEyMzE1LCJkb3dubG9hZGFibGUiOnRydWV9.-xuYuenE5PrQwlBVhTd8fBPkTNTCSBhR0BevsCEepJQ>

<https://toolbox.dnc.org/?tool_name=vantage%20uploader&path=vantageuploader.dnc.org/videos/shared_show?jwt=eyJ0eXAiOiJKV1QiLCJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiJ9.eyJpYXQiOjE0NjE3MDkzMDIsImVtYWlsIjoibG9nYW5vQGRuYy5vcmciLCJpZCI6MzEyMzE1LCJkb3dubG9hZGFibGUiOnRydWV9.-xuYuenE5PrQwlBVhTd8fBPkTNTCSBhR0BevsCEepJQ>

From: Price, Jenna
Sent: Tuesday, April 26, 2016 6:06 PM
To: Comm_D
Subject: Kasich’s Hypocrisy in IN & OH Press Call Coverage

Coverage on today’s call so far-

Democrats call out Kasich for absenteeism<http://www.toledoblade.com/Politics/2016/04/26/Democrats-call-out-Kasich-for-absenteeism-campaign-security-expense.html>
TOLEDO BLADE // TOM TROY
The chairmen of the Ohio and Indiana Democratic parties today blasted Ohio Gov. John Kasich for his continuing absence from Ohio and for his withdrawal from campaigning in Indiana for the Republican presidential nomination.

Ohio Democratic Chairman David Pepper said Mr. Kasich should disclose the cost of the state troopers assigned to provide him with protection, and said revealing that information would not endanger him.

“Not only is John Kasich not reimbursing taxpayers for the hundreds of thousands of dollars, he’s not even coming clean with how much he’s spending,” Mr. Pepper said.

The fact-checking organization PolitiFact.com said the cost of Gov. Kasich’s security on the campaign trail through March 2 was $475,976.

The Kasich campaign has refused to disclose details about his security.

The governor’s official spokesman in Columbus and his campaign spokesman did not immediately responded to emails from The Blade about the issue.

“We’ve been watching the governor traipse all over the country, talking to voters, holding town halls, eating all kinds of things. He’s been gone 195 days and counting outside Ohio. Ohio has a lot of big issues and he has not been here to here to address them,” Mr. Pepper said.

He said Mr. Kasich has become “a lame duck a lot sooner than you normally would see in a second term.”

John Zody, the Indiana chairman, said Mr. Kasich’s statements are confusing because he won’t campaign for their votes, though he has kept a date for a fund-raiser.

“He's happy to ask Hoosiers for money, but not for votes," Mr. Zody said.

Mr. Kasich and Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas announced on Sunday night that they would split their efforts in Indiana, Oregon, and New Mexico with the goal of preventing Donald Trump from getting to the 1,237 delegates needed to win on the first ballot at the convention. Under the plan, Mr. Kasich canceled his campaign appearances in Indiana and Mr. Cruz is to stay out of Oregon and New Mexico.

Flailing Cruz-Kasich alliance puzzles Indiana politicos<http://www.talkmedianews.com/election-2016/2016/04/26/flailing-cruz-kasich-alliance-puzzles-indiana-politicos/>
TALK MEDIA NEWS // WASHINGTON DESK

The shaky alliance between Republican presidential candidates Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) and Ohio Governor John Kasich has left Indiana officials from both parties baffled.

The joint-campaign strategy announced Sunday evening is centered on Kasich declining to campaign in Indiana in exchange for Cruz staying out of Oregon and New Mexico.

The two candidates’ goal is to allow the other to perform in the respective states in order to prevent GOP front-runner Donald Trump from attaining the 1,237 delegates needed to capture the Republican nomination.

“I have a lot of questions,” Indiana State Representative Mike Karickhoff, a Kasich for America Indiana Co-Chair, told the Kokomo Tribune on Monday.

Karickhoff said he was in the campaign’s conference call detailing the decision, but that it only lasted 10 minutes.

Indiana Democratic party chair John Zody accused Kasich of “confusing Hoosier voters,” noting during a conference call with reporters Tuesday that Kasich is cancelling a campaign appearance but still attending a closed-door fundraiser in the state.

“He’s happy to ask Hoosiers for their money, just not for their votes,” Zody said.

The terms of the alliance seem to be confusing to the candidates’ themselves.

While Cruz’ campaign manager Jeff Roe said he was hopeful “allies of both campaigns would follow our lead” in order to clear the fields in the respective states, Kasich said Monday that Indiana voters should still support him.

“I’ve never told them not to vote for me,” Kasich said during a campaign stop in Pennsylvania the morning after the deal was announced. “They ought to vote for me.”

Adding to the confusion, a top representative for Kasich’s campaign in Indiana gave contradictory statements on whether Kasich was still seeking votes.

“Kasich is asking his supporters in Indiana to vote for Cruz so Trump does not win Indiana,” Jim Brainard, mayor of Carmel, Indiana and a state co-chair for Kasich’s campaign, told the Indianapolis Star Monday.

However, in a statement given to Bloomberg, Brainard said that he would not specifically urge Kasich supporters to back Cruz.

“Voters are smart, and they’ll figure out what they need to do,” Brainard said.