INDIANAPOLIS — (CNN) The editorial board of Indiana’s largest newspaper on Thursday praised John Kasich ahead of next week’s primary in a bid to stop Donald Trump — despite a deal for the Ohio governor to cede the state to Texas Sen. Ted Cruz.
In an editorial, The Indianapolis Star calls the 2016 race “unfortunate” and refers to the group of presidential hopefuls as a “disappointing field of candidates,” but goes on to say Kasich and Hillary Clinton would be the best candidates for their respective parties’ nominations.
The editorial — which pointedly concludes by saying “We are withholding a formal endorsement in either race” — focuses largely on criticizing Trump, saying, “A President Trump would be a danger to the United States and to the world.”
“Trump has demonstrated repeatedly during the months-long campaign that he is wholly unsuited to serve as president,” the editorial says, hitting the real estate magnate for his positions on national security, job creation, immigration, international trade and foreign affairs. It also accuses Trump of pitting “racial and ethnic groups against one another” and engaging political opponents and journalists with “insults and diatribes that fall far outside the bounds of decent political discourse.”
“Those are not the qualities that made America great — or that will make it even greater,” the paper says.
Kasich offers Indiana the “best choice,” the editorial says, though it criticizes the deal between the Ohio governor and Cruz.
“It’s unfortunate that Indiana voters have been given no chance to hear directly from the candidate most qualified to represent the Republican Party in the fall campaign for the White House,” the editorial says.
Neither Cruz or Kasich can obtain the 1,237 delegates needed to clinch the GOP nomination before the party’s national convention in July. A Trump victory in Indiana could be enough to end Cruz and Kasich’s chances for a contested convention.
On Sunday, Kasich agreed to pull out of Indiana and focus on western states in order to clear a path for Cruz in an effort to block Trump in the Hoosier State.
Speaking at a campaign event in Portland, Oregon, earlier Thursday, Kasich acknowledged that he faces long odds for the nomination and has been thinking about the future of his campaign.
“I thought about, ‘Should I keep going? Should I carry on? What is this all about?’ And I thought deeply about it,” Kasich said.
But, Kasich said, his wife convinced him to stay in the race because “the people need a choice, and if you don’t give them a choice, who will?”
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