海角大神

Ted Cruz and John Kasich don鈥檛 seem to be good at this conspiracy thing.

OK, 鈥渃onspiracy鈥� might be a bit harsh. 鈥淐ollusion鈥�, maybe? 鈥淐oordination?鈥� Whatever it is, they鈥檙e not operating as a team. If anything their attempt at a Trump-stopping counter block appears to be backfiring.

First off, Kasich is hedging. Under the deal announced Sunday night, the Ohio governor is supposed to stand down in Indiana, giving Cruz a clearer shot at beating Trump. But it seems as if Kasich believes that means only that he must stop actively campaigning in the Hoosier State. He鈥檚 not urging his Indiana supporters to vote strategically and back Cruz.

鈥淚鈥檓 not telling anybody anything in Indiana because I鈥檓 not campaigning in Indiana. . . . Voters are smart enough to figure out what they want to do,鈥� Kasich said Tuesday during on NBC鈥檚 鈥淭oday.鈥�

Kasich is still attending a fundraiser in Indiana on Tuesday, and he鈥檚 supposed to meet with top state GOP officials, including Gov. Mike Pence.

Meanwhile, the Cruz campaign does not appear any more enthusiastic about fulfilling its end of the bargain 鈥� pulling out of Oregon and New Mexico to give Kasich a better shot in the West.

Cruz officials have privately told campaign surrogates to similarly refrain from endorsing tactical voting on the part of the Texas senator鈥檚 supporters. 鈥淲e never tell voters who to vote for. We鈥檙e simply letting folks know where we will be focusing our time and resources,鈥� said talking points dispatched from Cruz HQ.

Here鈥檚 the basic problem: unless Kasich and Cruz are in this together, and they march in front of the cameras and urge their voters in Indiana (Kasich) and Oregon and New Mexico (Cruz) to vote for the other guy, and they make a big deal out of it 鈥� because otherwise Trump is going to be the nominee 鈥� this deal means very little.

This is not a time for subtlety. Kasich and Cruz are pretty different candidates, and it is going to be difficult to get the supporters of one to cast a ballot for the other. That鈥檚 if the voters in question even know the deal exists.

Indiana votes in seven days. It could be the key to the entire GOP nomination. Polls show it may be close. If Trump loses there, his path to a winning total of 1,237 delegates becomes quite narrow. If he wins, it opens up, and the second half of the Kasich-Cruz deal becomes close to irrelevant.

And if Trump wins Indiana despite the last-minute Cruz-Kasich alliance, it might deflate the entire #NeverTrump movement. Trump鈥檚 nomination could begin to seem inevitable.