Former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush is throwing his support behind Texas Sen. Ted Cruz and it seems more about stopping GOP front-runner Donald Trump than anything else. The key question is does Bush endorsement really mean anything?
Major endorsements from the GOP establishment has been meaningless thus far in slowing down Trump who scored another big win in Arizona last night and while Cruz won in Utah, in the race to the 1,237 delegates needed for the Republican nomination, the New York businessman remains on track to be the party’s nominee.
Bush early Wednesday endorsed Cruz’s Republican presidential bid, calling the Texas senator a “consistent, principled conservative.”
The statement from Bush, who ended his own campaign last month, said Cruz has “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,” the former Florida governor said.
The statement issued by Bush went on to say that Republicans must “overcome the divisiveness and vulgarity has brought to the political arena” or risk losing the White House. “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,” the former Republican presidential candidate added.
There seems to be very little that Bush and Cruz agree on and don’t look for him to hit the campaign trail for the Texas senator. But like other establishment candidates like Senator Lindsey Graham of South Carolina, who recently turned to Cruz as a last resort. Bush, seems to be following Graham’s lead as the establishment following behind Cruz, more in a stop Trump movement, than wanting to see him as the party’s nominee.
The Cruz campaign has also sought support from Florida’s other major political player Sen. Marco Rubio, who dropped out of the race after losing his home state to Trump on March 15. For the moment an endorsement the junior senator from the Sunshine State does not seem ready to follow his mentors lead and support Sen. Cruz.
Meanwhile, Gov. John Kasich of Ohio, remains in the race and he remains a problem for Cruz’s efforts to consolidate the anti-Trump vote. Kasich has won only his home state, but it is a general election battleground, and he has vowed to fight on.
Kasich, knows that both he and Cruz best way to stop Trump is to keep him from getting to the 1,237 delegates and the nomination. The goal for Kasich is slow Trump down in the Northeast as the campaign in New York, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania.
Trump, is seen as strong in that region and Kasich thinks feels he is better suited to win in that part of the country than is Cruz.