http://www.realclearpolitics.com/video/2016/04/24/kasich_i_crushed_ted_cruz_in_new_york_zero_chance_of_being_trumps_vp.htmlJohn Kasich vs. Neil Cavuto: "There Are No Rules," "I've Got Friends Who Are Going To Be On The Convention Rules Committee"
By Tim Hains
Posted on April 24, 2016
John Kasich tells Fox News Channel's Neil Cavuto that Ted Cruz or Donald Trump can not beat Hillary Clinton, and that he would never accept an invitation to be Vice President from either of them. He says he expects to go to the RNC convention and be nominated there.
"And guess what, I've got friends who are going to be on the Rules Committee," the Ohio governor said. "We don't know who is going on the rules committee yet. And thirdly, people can be nominated from the floor."
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"If either of those guys are nominated," Kasich warns. "For those that are watching. You're going to lose the [Supreme] Court. The U.S. Senate, and everything from the courthouse to the statehouse. They have very negative ratings and they can't win."
"So Neil, we're going to go to a convention, and there the delegates are going to decide, #1 who can win in the fall --and I am the only one that does."
Cavuto brings up the actual primary results, and asks about Kasich the possibility of becoming a VP for Trump or Cruz.
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"Neil, you've asked me this like 50 times," Kasich said about the Vice Presidential issue.
"It is interesting because a few months ago you were teasing that," Cavuto commented.
"They're not going to be the nominee," Kasich replied. "Do you you think delegates are going to go to a convention and pick somebody who can't even win?"
Cavuto presses Kasich on the fact that right now under the current RNC rules, he is inelligible to even be considered for nomination at the convention. Under the rules adopted in 2012 a candidate must have won eight states. Kasich has won one state.
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Kasich says no, "that is false information. I don't know where you guys get this stuff," he said about the 2012 Republican convention rules.
"There are no rules at this convention," before it starts Kasich said. "The Rules Committee hasn't even met. They haven't even been selected."
"They're not going to change any rules. You don't change rules that haven't been set," he argued. The Rules Committee sets whatever rules it wants to before each convention, based subjectively on how the Rules Committee members feel about the candidates, Kasich explains.
Cavuto argues, "you know this governor as well as I," about the 2012 rules. "There is a rule from the last time around," Cavuto explains about the eight state requirment. "That would have to be changed to accomodate you."
"Every convention sets its own rules," Kasich said.
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CAVUTO: 76% of delegates who would decide on this issue are either Trump or Cruz delegates. So you think they are going to allow a rule that would allow you on the ballot?
KASICH: That's false. We don't know what the percentage are going to be going in to the convention.
And guess what, I've got friends who are going to be on the Rules Committee who don't buy that.
CAVUTO: You know I'm the numbers nerd here, [Cruz and Trump] account for roughly seventy percent of the delegates.
KASICH: We don't know who is going on the rules committee yet. And thirdly, people can be nominated from the floor, and fourthly, this Republican Party has to be open not shut. We don't even know what the total delegates are going to be.
CAVUTO: I understand. Your argument is good. The way you poll in November is good. The way you are the most electable candidate, the numbers bear you out on that... But of the delegates who have been decided so far, those two candidates who don't want to have you anywhere near them, account for the lion's share of them. And the delegates have to decide on whatever the Rules Committee decides to do.
Do you think there is any chance in hell those delegates, who are committed to those candidates, want to see you in their sandbox?
KASICH: I think there will be an open convention. The rules committee will decide to have an open convention.
The 2012 rules were very similar to the 2008, but with the eight states threshhold added.
