"Trump has the one thing his GOP foes lack: democratic legitimacy."

Cruz and Kasich might well outmaneuver Trump and keep him from his magic number with wins in Indiana, New Mexico, and Oregon, even as the bumbling start to their nonaggression pact has left them looking more like the Superior Foes of the Donald than than actual competitors. But it won’t matter either way. Whether he gets to 1,237 or not, Trump has an unbeatable advantage—democratic legitimacy. And if Republican leaders try to take the nomination from his hands, he’ll have a powerful rallying cry:

They’re trying to steal your vote.

For once in his campaign, he would be right. To take the nomination from the candidate with the most votes is to tell ordinary Republicans that their ballots don’t matter—that the will of elites outweighs the will of the voters. That many of those elites are elected officials—and themselves accountable to voters—doesn’t matter; that they might make a good choice doesn’t matter, either. What matters is the widespread belief that votes count and that voters have the final say on the choice of nominee. Ignoring this belief wouldn’t just confirm every possible critique of “the establishment”; it would tear the party apart. […] – Jamelle Bouie, Slate writer

Kasich will no doubt continue to try to sell his claim that "I'm the only one who can beat Hillary Clinton" all the way to the GOP convention…and yes, I certainly believed it was possible at one point in time during the Repub primaries. But not now.

And no way the GOPe/RNC are going to take the nomination from Trump and give it to Kasich. Not unless they've decided to completely kill off what little is left of that party, because that's exactly what will happen. The Repub *base* …and especially Trump supporters…will destroy that party once and for all, without thinking twice about it

Yes. I have long considered Kasich to be the only possible serious threat to Hillary, though I had put his chances of actually beating her at slim…very slim.

But I had also pointed out that Kasich stands litle-to-No chance of winning the Repub nomination because frankly, a rather sizeable portion of Repub-base voters can't stand him and will NOT vote for him under any circumstance. (SEE his total of 1 primary win thus far)

Trump now refers to Kasich as Mr. "1 for 41"…and he's correct. To date, Kasich has won only One state – his home state of Ohio. That's it.

While Rubio, on the other hand, has won 2 or 3 primaries they weren't big states and most telling- he FAILED to carry the Biggest prize for himself -his own home-state of Florida.

Added to all that……….

Though the deal between Kasich and Cruz is legal I believe it's going to backfire big-time especially when it comes to Kasich and the perception that he's the only *principled* Repub in the bunch. I know that my opinion of Kasich has certainly changed since I became aware (via MSNBC) that the Kasich camp had dogged Cruz to go along with this collusion for 2 months before Cruz finally agreed to do so.

Suffice it to say, I don't think much of Kasich anymore. IMO, his deal with Cruz smacks of arrogance, cynicism and desperation on the part of both men. And, I believe, it probably kills any chance of Kasich beating Hillary now no matter who he picks as his VP…least of all Rubio (who btw is Cuban -not quite the same as Hispanic).

Not to mention that Kasich colluding with Cruz to deny Trump (the actual winner) the nomination feeds right into Trump's claim that the entire GOP primary elections process is "rigged" and corrupt."

As I've previously expressed, the GOP is d*med if they do…and d*mned if they don't…nominate Trump.