Unity convention, day one: Paul Manafort takes a shot at Ohio Gov. John Kasich — in Cleveland

[Valin]

Hot Air:

Allahpundit

July 18 2016

 

The key bit comes at 2:20 of the clip. Note the unhappy murmuring from the hometown crowd when he claims Kasich is “embarrassing his state” by skipping the convention. You could understand this sort of dumb bravado coming from Trump, who sees every snub that goes unpunished as proof of weakness, but Manafort’s supposed to be the cool-headed strategist with his eye on the big picture. He’s the guy who wanted Pence as VP because Pence would make it easier for the party to unify. If ever there was a moment to take the high road and offer some strategic lip service this was it. “Listen,” he could have said, “I admire John Kasich. He ran a good campaign and he’s an important voice in the party. If he’s willing to speak this week, we’d make it a priority to clear time for him.” Best-case scenario: Kasich hears that and decides to suck it up and attend. Worst-case scenario: Kasich continues to boycott but ends up looking small and petty by doing so.

 

Making this even odder, Manafort needs the Ohio GOP’s help in building a ground game in their must-win state. Trump barely has a functioning campaign right now. Ohio Republicans can fill the void. So naturally the smart thing to do is gratuitously annoy them.

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P2n1OtI27s0

 

Exit question: How did we arrive at this strange plane of reality where Ted Cruz is willing to speak at Trump’s pageant but John Kasich insists on standing on principle?