Alfonse D'Amato

A brokered convention would damage the GOP

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And then there were three. A week ago Tuesday, the field for the Republican presidential primary shrank by one after a disappointing finish in his home state of Florida forced Sen. Marco Rubio out of the race. And when Gov. John Kasich captured a win in his home state of Ohio, taking 66 delegates, he made even more possible the idea of a brokered Republican convention.

Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump both scored big victories on this second Super Tuesday, which focused on big races in two key states, Ohio and Florida. Clinton took tremendous strides toward winning the Democratic nomination by sweeping all five states up for grabs, scoring crucial wins in Florida and North Carolina. She also stopped Sen. Bernie Sanders’s momentum in the Midwest by winning Ohio and Illinois. The region became a concern after Bernie handed Hillary a shocking defeat in Michigan just days before.

After losing his home state by 18 points, Rubio decided to suspend his presidential campaign. During its final weeks he was entangled in bitter fights with Trump, and continued to fire shots at the frontrunner even as he walked away. Rubio’s efforts to become the nominee were not without merit. His voice in the campaign was youthful and refreshing, and I hope he continues in public service.

Rubio’s absence from the race will help both Kasich and Sen. Ted Cruz — Kasich even more so — as establishment Republicans now look to them as the only candidates who can challenge Trump if there is a contested convention. Cruz has a better shot, because he is similar to Trump, as least as far as being an outsider is concerned, but I don’t believe that either Cruz or Kasich will be able to stop Trump’s momentum.

I have supported Kasich from the beginning. He has a solid Republican record. But first and foremost, as a Republican, I want to win this election, and in order to win, we need a strong party, united behind one candidate. While I appreciate and have faith in the electoral process, a convention that does not nominate the candidate with the most delegates will fracture the party and disenfranchise the voters who came out in record numbers to support Trump.

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