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| © AP Photo/Michael Conroy |
Indeed, few groups seemed to have planned to spend extensively in Oregon and New Mexico, the two states Cruz will leave to Kasich. That includes Our Principles PAC, the banner anti-Trump outfit.
"Prior to the agreement, we had no plans in those states," said Tim Miller, a spokesman for the group, "so nothing really impacted us on that front. Obviously, as we progress, if that changes we will take this into account."
Although campaigns are prohibited from privately coordinating with their aligned super PACs or other outside groups, there is no such restriction on public nudges. If a campaign might be hesitant to broadcast its strategy under normal circumstances, however, Kasich and Cruz are operating under more desperate circumstances and with a shared goal, to force an open convention. Meanwhile, both campaigns are running low on cash and will likely need a productive assist from outside groups: Cruz's war chest has dwindled to just $9 million, while Kasich has only $1.2 million in the bank.
Some Republican leaders have been pushing for cooperation of this kind for some time, forecasting that Kasich and Cruz, along with the groups backing them, were on track merely to undercut each other. "If they are both going at it aggressively until the very end, then I think Trump gets it on the first ballot," Mitt Romney said recently.
Still, the pact between Cruz and Kasich is not without steep political risk: In remarks Monday, Trump characterized the move as the "pathetic" maneuvering of two "desperate" candidates. "It shows how weak they are," he said. "It shows how pathetic they are."
Cruz emphasized that the pact "is about winning the votes of the Hoosier State, giving Indiana the opportunity to choose." But Kasich seemed to counter that message, saying the decision merely concerned time and money: "I'm not going to spend resources in Indiana. [Cruz is] not going to spend resources in other places."
"We're not telling voters who to vote for in IN, only where we are going to spend resources to ultimately defeat Hillary," his strategist, Weaver, echoed on Twitter. "They get it."
"Prior to the agreement, we had no plans in those states," said Tim Miller, a spokesman for the group, "so nothing really impacted us on that front. Obviously, as we progress, if that changes we will take this into account."
Although campaigns are prohibited from privately coordinating with their aligned super PACs or other outside groups, there is no such restriction on public nudges. If a campaign might be hesitant to broadcast its strategy under normal circumstances, however, Kasich and Cruz are operating under more desperate circumstances and with a shared goal, to force an open convention. Meanwhile, both campaigns are running low on cash and will likely need a productive assist from outside groups: Cruz's war chest has dwindled to just $9 million, while Kasich has only $1.2 million in the bank.
Some Republican leaders have been pushing for cooperation of this kind for some time, forecasting that Kasich and Cruz, along with the groups backing them, were on track merely to undercut each other. "If they are both going at it aggressively until the very end, then I think Trump gets it on the first ballot," Mitt Romney said recently.
Still, the pact between Cruz and Kasich is not without steep political risk: In remarks Monday, Trump characterized the move as the "pathetic" maneuvering of two "desperate" candidates. "It shows how weak they are," he said. "It shows how pathetic they are."
Cruz emphasized that the pact "is about winning the votes of the Hoosier State, giving Indiana the opportunity to choose." But Kasich seemed to counter that message, saying the decision merely concerned time and money: "I'm not going to spend resources in Indiana. [Cruz is] not going to spend resources in other places."
"We're not telling voters who to vote for in IN, only where we are going to spend resources to ultimately defeat Hillary," his strategist, Weaver, echoed on Twitter. "They get it."