RUSH: Here's Bill in Chicago.  Bill, great that you waited.  Welcome to the program.  Hello.

CALLER:  Hey, Rush.  Thanks for having me on.  And before I get started, thank you for your lifetime of service.  I don't think I can express enough to you just how much you've mattered to me personally, and I know I speak for a lot of people also.  Thank you, and thank you for letting me on today as well.

RUSH:  I really appreciate that.  I really do.  Thank you so much.

CALLER:  Rush, the reason for my call is I wanted to ask if you saw -- it was up on Drudge earlier -- where Cruz had referred to Trump supporters, borrowing a term from you, as "low-information."

RUSH:  Yes, I saw that.

CALLER:  So as a Trump supporter, just to put it out there, you know, for me at this point, I kind of had two issues watching Cruz.  Up until now, I've heard him lecture a lot about, you know, what's a real conservative and what does it mean to be a real conservative, and he lectures there, and I'm looking at, you know, the discharge papers on my wall from the US Army. I'm looking at my time in the private sector. It says, "Hey, I think he knows what it means to be a conservative," number one, and now he just calls me dumb.  So here's my recommendation to Ted Cruz, and I think he can take a note from a guy like Donald Trump.  You want my vote, Ted?  Earn it.  Trump is out there as a leader earning votes.  Cruz is out there trying to make me feel like I do or don't qualify for his definition of what it means to be a conservative, and at the same time stealing a page from your playbook about Democrats calling me, a Republican, dumb.  Not the way to earn my vote, Ted.

RUSH:  Let's play the audio sound bite.  It happens to be sound bite number nine on the roster today.  It was on the CBN website, the Christian Broadcasting Network website.  The Brody File is the name of the show, David Brody interviewing Senator Cruz. He said, "If it's not for evangelicals in the Deep South who are keeping Donald Trump alive, you're on your way to becoming the nominee."  The question was: How are you not winning all the evangelicals? How in the world is Trump winning some of these voters?

I tried to explain that in great detail yesterday and I did so in a way -- and I know the Cruz people, they're not offended by this.  I'm actually doing helpful analysis here.  I think Senator Cruz, by targeting evangelicals, has limited his appeal.  He's got a much broader appeal than just evangelicals.  But his belief has been that those are the people not voting; if you can energize 'em, turn 'em out, that you'll win.  And there's truth in that.  But you can't take for granted the other people that did vote for Romney in 2012 are automatically gonna show up.  So everybody's puzzled.

"How come Trump is winning evangelicals?  You kidding me?  Trump, how is he winning evangelicals?" 

And this is what Cruz responded.

CRUZ:  He does well with a certain demographic of voter.  Donald gave a press conference where he said, to quote him, "I love the poorly educated."  Donald is taking advantage of his voters.  Donald does well with voters who have relatively low information, who are not engaged, and who are angry, and they see him as an angry voice.  Where we are beating him is when voters get more engaged and they get more informed. When they inform themselves, they realize his record.

RUSH:  So you're a Trump supporter, Bill, I'm assuming from what you said?

CALLER:  I am, Rush.

RUSH:  Right.  And you understandably taking offense at that this.  The --

CALLER:  I don't take it personally, but I do think it's insulting to himself if he thinks the way to win the election is to insult right now what is the largest base in the Republican Party.

RUSH:  Yeah.

CALLER:  But I don't take it personally.

RUSH:  It's every Republican in this race, other than Trump. Every elected Republican, every candidate. A lot of Republicans are stymied.  They don't understand how Trump has done this.  They're not sure just who the Trump voters are.  I've tried to tell them that, that Trump is reaching a broad-based coalition that includes... Let me tell you who's in that group.  I don't know if this describes you, but I'm gonna say, folks, there is -- and I know this undeniably.  There is a significant contingent of people in the Trump camp who have been ticked off since NAFTA, since 1992. 

When you hear Trump talk about free trade in his town hall meeting last night with Hannity -- free trade, free trade, free trade -- and everything related to it had to make up 30% if not more of what Trump said last night.  He knows who a large contingent of his voters are.  And what free trade... They don't think it's free trade at all. They think it's rigged trade and the result is factories they used to work at are closed. Jobs they used to have are gone and more factories are closing and more jobs are leaving, and they don't see anybody concerned about it. 

The last guy that was concerned about it was Buchanan, and here comes Trump.  Now, that's not his base.  I mean, it's not the sole contingent in his support, but it's a huge number of people.  And they're not ignorant.  They are personally affected by what they think the elites have done, and Trump is the only guy talking to them on that issue.  But in addition to that, Bill, Cruz and Rubio and Jeb Bush, they've all been trying to figure out how to get Trump supporters to leave him.  And nothing they have tried has worked. 

They have tried insulting Trump.  They have tried frightening Trump's voters. They have tried telling Trump's voters that Trump is a fraud, that he's not a real conservative; that he's really a Democrat, Hillary donor at heart. They've tried everything, and they can't break the bond no matter what they do.  In fact, when Romney comes out and says what he said in that speech last week it drives even more people to Trump, but it solidifies Trump support.  The traditional ways of beating a candidate are not applicable here. 

So Senator Cruz comes along and says, "Well, you know, it's kind of the low-information voters," and uses Trump's quote, "I love the poorly educated."  That's not what Trump meant by that.  But what's going on here, as I have also stated over and over again -- and this, Bill, I'm sure does apply to you. For whatever reasons -- and they probably differ from person to person, it's one of the things you can't name. It's an intangible.  There's a bond. The Trump supporter has a bond, a connection with Trump that only Trump can break. Only Trump can violate it.  Nobody else created the bond.  Therefore, nobody else can defeat it or break it.  The media can't.  The media did not make Trump.  People are not supporting Trump 'cause the media has sung his praises.  

BREAK TRANSCRIPT

RUSH: Look, here's the bottom line.  Cruz is gonna have to realize that he's not going to accomplish much by trying to take voters away from Trump.  They're locked.  There's a bond there you can't break.  The only guy that can is Trump.  The Republican Party cannot take Trump supporters away because they didn't put them there.  Well, they're responsible for it, but they haven't promoted Trump.  There's no reason.  Trump's the only guy that can break that bond.  Therefore, what Cruz has to do is get Rubio's voters.  He's gotta get Kasich's voters. 

He's gotta go out and get people who were for Ben Carson.  In the process, if that peels away some Trump people, fine; but you're never going to get Trump voters by telling them that Donald is this or that or that they are low-information or that they don't get it. And you're gonna need those voters, if you succeed. If the Cruz people succeed... I will acknowledge there's a third scenario.  The third scenario is that neither Cruz nor Trump get 1,237 but that Cruz goes to the convention with a bigger number than Trump. 

But if you're gonna do that, you may as well go all the way. But I understand the thinking, and it's valid.  If either one of those two scenarios happen -- if you get to 1,237 and get the nomination, or if you beat Trump but remain short of 1,237 -- once this convention's over, you're gonna need those Trump voters.  A lot of those Trump voters (I don't know what percentage; people are saying it's anywhere from 15% to 25%, maybe 30%) are Democrats, moderates, independents, liberals.

They are white working-class voters who are not enthused by Hillary or Crazy Bernie.  And they are with Trump on this free trade, immigration stuff. You're gonna have to keep those people on your side.  So don't... You know, don't go out and tough talk to them now, because you're going to need them if you get the nomination.  There are plenty of votes in the anti-Trump quadrants or sectors, if you will, of the Republican Party.  It would probably be more beneficial, productive to focus on those, 'cause nobody's gonna talk Trump voters out of supporting him right now.

A new FBI initiative based on Britain’s “anti-terror” mass surveillance program instructs high schools across America to inform on students who express “anti-government” and “anarchist” political beliefs.

“High school students are ideal targets for recruitment by violent extremists seeking support for their radical ideologies, foreign fighter networks, or conducting acts of targeted violence within our borders. High schools must remain vigilant in educating their students about catalysts that drive violent extremism and the potential consequences of embracing extremist belief,” states an unclassified document released in January by the FBI’s Office of Partner Engagement, the agency’s primary liaison for the law enforcement community.

The document claims public school educators “are in a unique position to affect change, impart affirmative messaging, or facilitate intervention activities,” including informing on students. It calls for “observing and assessing concerning behaviors and communications” of students “embracing extremist ideologies.”

In addition to “designated foreign terrorist organizations,” the FBI program targets “domestic violent extremism movements,” including anti-government groups.

According to the FBI “some adults embrace domestic violent extremist ideologies [and] their beliefs can permeate family norms, oftentimes influencing their children. This dynamic fosters biases leading to hatred and intolerance, and drives the need for action.”

Conflating Sovereign Citizens and Constitutionalists

The FBI and federal and local law enforcement groups categorize many libertarian, constitutionalist and other groups and individuals as “sovereign citizens.”

According to an FBI counterterrorism analysis, sovereign citizens “may refer to themselves as ‘constitutionalists’ or ‘freemen,’ which is not necessarily a connection to a specific group, but, rather, an indication that they are free from government control.”

The FBI considers the Redemption Theory (the abandonment of the gold standard in favor of fiat currency), emancipation “from the responsibilities of being a U.S. citizen, including paying taxes,” and “conspiracy theories,” including the formation of global government and a police state, as  indicators of extremist or sovereign citizen ideology.

A National Consortium for the Study of Terrorism and Responses to Terrorism (START) report produced by the Office of University Programs, Science and Technology Directorate at the Department of Homeland Security in 2014 lists sovereign citizens as the primary domestic terror threat in the United States, followed by Islamic jihadists, “militia/patriot” and “extreme anti-tax” groups.

The document attempts to persuade law enforcement that sovereign citizens are a direct threat to them. “Such changing perceptions about what is a serious terrorist threat is an important finding because identifying and prioritizing a threat is akin to hitting a moving target and evolves as new intelligence, data, and events develop,” the START report argues.

The FBI high school informer network initiative is part of a larger effort “identifying and prioritizing” supposed threats.

Informant Culture

The FBI initiative—the latest manifestation of the “see something, say something” surveillance matrix—further engenders a government informant culture that shares a parallel with East Germany’s “Inoffizieller Mitarbeiter” or informal collaborator culture.

This Stasi network served as a primary instrument of repression in communist East Germany. The government forged partnerships with business, state institutions and social organizations. It is estimated that the Stasi had an informal collaborator or informant network exceeding 624,000 people (in 1989, at the height of Stasi power, the population of East Germany was 16.5 million).

Former intelligence professionals are well aware the United States is on its way to becoming a totalitarian high-tech surveillance state that will soon rival the East German variant.

In January 2015 a delegation of Sam Adams Associates for Integrity in Intelligence—which included ex-officers from the NSA, CIA and British MI5—visited the Stasi museum in Berlin.

“As the former intelligence officers-turned-whistleblowers walked among the well-preserved offices and conference rooms of a former totalitarian state’s internal spy apparatus,” writes Elizabeth Murray, who served as Deputy National Intelligence Officer for the Near East in the National Intelligence Council, “the sense of deja vu and irony of what the United States of America has become was clearly not lost on any of them.”

RUSH:  I checked the e-mail during the break, and an e-mail says, "Screw the Democrats!  The Republicans aren't finished.  Let's start with the Republicans."  Folks, we're gonna get to everything going on on the Republican side.  Florida is coming up.  I know there's a huge push now to get Rubio and Kasich to drop out now, before Florida and before Ohio, and have everybody unify behind Cruz on the theory that the only way to win this... By the way, this is a fascinating theory and the question then becomes: Can it happen? Is it possible? 

The theory is to get rid of the divided opposition, which Trump benefits from. Get everybody out except Cruz.  Rubio and Kasich aren't gonna win anything.  It isn't possible.  There's no gold star for winning your state, not in this context. There's too much is at stake.  Rubio and Kasich get out, everybody unify behind Cruz, and maybe even have Cruz select a potential running mate.  And then that unifies the anti-Trump vote on the Republican side, which many people think is greater than the Trump support on the Republican side, which tops out at 35, 40%. 

The question then becomes "Is there enough time left?"  Because what... If you do that, if that's what they ultimately decide to do -- and I think the strategy makes sense.  There's two theories.  Let's stick with this one.  Kasich, Rubio resign from the campaign today, resign before next Tuesday, announce unification the party behind Cruz.  What then has to happen, folks, if this is gonna have any prayer... Because you can't do this unless you think... If you're the Cruz camp, you can't do this unless you think you can show up at the convention with 1,237 delegates. 

You can't show up a close second.  You can't show up with Trump, say, 50 votes short, 75 votes short and expect a contested convention where you can win.  You have to go all out.  That has to be the thinking.  If Trump shows up and he's only 25 or 50 votes short of the 1,237, it'd be crazy. It'd be crazy to deny him the nomination that circumstance. That would be utter chaos.  Cruz knows it.  A lot of people confused here over what Cruz has said. 

When Cruz talked about how silly it would be for the establishment to deny the legitimate winner -- the leader in delegates, the plurality leader in delegates -- the nomination, what Cruz specifically was talking about was, in that scenario, if the establishment would then take that occasion and, say, give the nomination to Romney or give the nomination to Jeb, or give the nomination to somebody who has not contested. Then that would be major error.  That would cause choose and an explosion of the result and the end of the party. 

Cruz was opposed to that. 

Cruz did not say, and he's made it clear now... Cruz was not saying that if you have a contested convention and somebody other than the leader gets the nomination, that would be fine if it's a candidate that meets all the other rule requirements and has been in the race all this time and has had a lot of support.  His only point, Cruz's only point was: Do not blow up the convention. Do not deny the leader -- he was talking about Trump -- and replace him with an establishment pick.  That would be disaster.  Okay? 

So if you buy into this theory that there's still time for Cruz to get 1,237, to essentially beat Trump by unifying everybody, there's a big part of this that also has to get behind Cruz.  You know who that is?  That's the good old establishment.  It's not gonna be enough for Rubio and Kasich to get out and pledge their support if you still have a Mitch McConnell-led faction, per se, in the Republican establishment, which hates Cruz for personal reasons and others that will not get behind him and can deny donor support, can deny establishment support, which is gonna be necessary. 

I'm just telling you right now: It's gonna take an entire unity effort.  If the establishment doesn't get on board then it's all finished.  And how do you get them on board?  Are you gonna go get Lindsey Grahamnesty?  Lindsey Grahamnesty has floated a possibility.  Lindsey Grahamnesty either earlier this week or late last week or maybe over the weekend, said, "It may be time to consider all of us unifying behind Cruz."  And remember a lot of people stopped dead in their tracks over that, 'cause the conventional wisdom is that Cruz is hated by the establishment even more than Trump is.

'Cause they view Cruz as intractable. 

Cruz won't make deals with 'em.  Cruz will not be flexible.  He is who he is and he's gonna remain who he is, and they know that.  Now, I believe what Lindsey Grahamnesty was doing... I don't think Lindsey Grahamnesty was making a pitch to the establishment there.  When Lindsey Grahamnesty said it may be time to start thinking about unifying behind Trump, he was not talking to Mitch McConnell and Paul Ryan and whoever the big donors are.  He was sending a message to Cruz.  The message to Cruz was, "Hey, bud, come back to us, and we can talk." 

Now, what does that mean? 

Would that mean that Cruz has to, I don't know, apologize to members of the establishment that he has attacked, like McConnell?  Well, I don't know. But I'm just telling you: If you are of this school of thought which says, "Kasich, Rubio, get out; everybody unify behind Cruz," "everybody" means everybody. You gotta do something to get the establishment that doesn't like the guy on his side and treating him as though Jeb Bush got the nomination. All the money, all the donors, all of the ground support, all of that that the party can bring to it.

That would have to happen.  The other theory involves Kasich.  Rubio is... Essentially, if he doesn't get out after Florida -- and if he doesn't win it, he will be out.  But Kasich. The latest Fox News poll, Kasich is, what, down five or six points to Trump in Ohio?  Six points.  So the other theory involves Kasich staying in for as long as he can.  The other theory essentially, you know what it is?  It's an Operation Chaos for Kasich.  Keep Kasich in, have Kasich win Ohio, deny Trump those delegates.

Have Kasich and Cruz stay in and continue to deny Trump the delegates. Keep him short of 1,237, and then at some point down the line come together, as we're talking about in the first theory, and then seek the 1,237.  Now, the Cruz camp... I don't know this. The Cruz camp, for that second theory. Keep Kasich in it as long as you can, maybe even do an Operation Chaos-type thing so that Kasich wins Ohio, deny Trump delegates, deny him getting 1,237. If the Cruz camp believes that they can eventually prevail in a contested convention where Trump has a plurality, and neither of them have the minimum requirement, 1,237...

If the Cruz camp... I don't know. I'm speculating here. If the Cruz camp believes that neither Trump nor Cruz can get to 1,237, and therefore it's a contested convention, in the Cruz camp there may be elements there that think they could win that contested convention on the theory that when you get to the second ballot, all bets are off.  That theory that may be popularly held within the Cruz campaign relies on this: That all of the delegates that are pledged to Trump and Cruz in the first ballot... Let me use Florida as an example. 

Let's say Trump wins Florida, winner-take-all, 99 delegates.  On the first ballot, all 99... The delegates are elected by the state. It's a big honor. On the first ballot, they have to vote the way of the popular vote in the state.  So on the first ballot, Trump would get the 99 delegates from Florida.  But if there's no winner -- and in this scenario there isn't because nobody's got 1,237.  So if there's no winner, the Cruz theory is that some of those 99 that had to vote for Trump on the first ballot are really not Trump supporters and would vote for Cruz, or could be persuaded to vote for Cruz on the second ballot, third ballot, what have you. 

Now, speaking just for myself, I don't think that theory has much of a chance.

I think if Cruz is to win the nomination, he's got to do it in the primaries.  He's got to go to Cleveland with 1,237, and I think they think they can do it.  I think they think there's a pathway there. But it involves Kasich and Rubio getting out now and somehow the establishment unifying behind Cruz, happily, cheerfully, with no animosity, no disappointment. I mean, they've gotta be all-in that Cruz is the guy. 

They think there's a pathway to the nomination.

But those are the two theories that survive here in the world of how to defeat Trump. 

BREAK TRANSCRIPT

RUSH:  No, no.  Was not an error.  I didn't get it wrong.  I misspoke.  It was Kasich up five.  I said Trump was up five over Kasich in Ohio.  It's Kasich up five over Trump in Ohio.  And, given that, this theory that requires Kasich and Rubio to get out now, you're gonna have a really tough time getting Kasich to pull out of there.  So it looks like theory or scenario two is what the Cruz campaign is gonna have to glom onto here, and that is Kasich staying in and trying to take delegates away from Trump at every state along with Cruz, to deny the 1,237. 

Now, here's another thing to think about, folks.  And don't think that I did not consider this.  In theory number one, scenario number one, where Rubio and Kasich get out and the establishment and everybody unifies behind Cruz, the establishment has not changed.  They do not all of a sudden like conservatives.  So any scenario that involves the establishment getting full bore behind Cruz, you have to ask:

"How serious is it?  How deep is it?"  Folks, everybody's under the illusion... Not illusion. Everybody's under the impression the Republicans want to win the White House.  Remember, there are elected Republicans telling Bret Baier they will vote for Hillary over Trump -- and some of them, no doubt, ditto instead of Ted Cruz, who is just as reprehensible to 'em for different reasons.  

BREAK TRANSCRIPT

RUSH: This is Patty, Columbus, Ohio.  Great to have you on the EIB Network.  Are you a Kasich supporter?

CALLER:  No.

RUSH:  Oh, you're not?

CALLER:  I think he's a great governor, but I think him and Rubio both are being very selfish.  He's been a really great governor for Ohio, but there's no way that he can win the nomination, the same way with Rubio. And I just think they're being selfish to the people and to the party by staying in and causing the chaos at the end.  I heard you in the beginning of your show explaining a lot of things to me in the beginning. I understand that.  I just think they're being very selfish to the people and the party and trying to cause chaos at the end.

RUSH:  So you think Kasich and Rubio should get out.  What is that...? Your a Cruz, obviously, supporter, or you're Trump?

CALLER:  Well, I'm a Cruz supporter.  If Kasich would have done well in the beginning and had a chance, I would be backing Kasich.  But I think Cruz has a very good chance if they would just get out and not cause chaos for the people or the party.

RUSH:  Well, but Kasich is leading in Ohio.  He's up by five right now, and there is a feather to be had here for your cap.  I mean, winning your home state in a presidential campaign, you have to do that.  It will be a resume enhancement for him for whatever else he wants to do later in politics.  So it's kind of hard to expect Kasich to get out of this when he's leading in Ohio.  I know your point is he doesn't have a prayer of winning the nomination, right?

CALLER:  Right.

RUSH:  So he's being selfish by just hoarding that one state's delegates because what's it gonna matter in the presidential race.  But, you know, there is a scenario.  You --

CALLER:  Like with Hillary and Bernie Sanders. Hillary was winning by 21% going in, and she lost in Michigan.

RUSH:  Yeah.  That's true.  That was one of the biggest polling errors since 1984.  But just because it happened once doesn't mean it's gonna happen again.  But there's a scenario here that involves Cruz with Kasich staying in.

BREAK TRANSCRIPT

RUSH:   Now, Governor Kasich.  Governor Kasich is obviously angling for more than just winning Ohio.  I think that his dream is to become postmaster general in a future administration, even though postmaster general is not really a cabinet-level position any longer.  There's family history there that might be relevant.  Some think that Governor Kasich is attempting to secure the vice presidential nod from Donald Trump, maybe Ted Cruz.  But in addition to Ohio, Governor Kasich says that he can win the Rust Belt, and he thinks that he can do well in places like California, New York, New Jersey. 

That's what he says.  Now, all of this in the context of him getting out, and he would tell you, "Don't compare me to Rubio.  Rubio hasn't won anything.  Rubio... Well, won one. Minnesota.  But Rubio's trending nowhere, and I still have a legitimate chances here, and I'm working governor, and I have these accomplishments, and I know how to get people working together," and all these other aspects.  In those two scenarios that I described, the second scenario that the Cruz people have... Look, I don't know this for certain.  I'm just assuming that if...

There are only two ways this can happen.  There are only two ways that Cruz can get there.  And one way, as I said, was for everybody to get out, Kasich, Rubio to get out now, before Florida and before Ohio. Well, maybe afterwards. But no, the key here is they have to get out, and everybody has to unify behind Cruz, and that would include the establishment.  And I think, just to repeat the thing, Lindsey Graham has opened a door.  But remember how he did it. 

What Lindsey Graham said was, "We may be getting to the point where getting behind Ted Cruz looks doable or attractive or what have you." But he was not sending that message to other members of the establishment.  He was saying that for Cruz's benefit.  What he was saying was, "Senator Cruz, there's an opening here to get us back on your side, but you're gonna have to do some things for that to happen.  'Cause there's still a lot of animosity for you." 

All of this is unstated, but I just don't see Lindsey Graham stepping outside the establishment and going rogue and aligning himself with Cruz yet.  That's not what he was doing.  He was essentially saying, "Senator Cruz, there's a chance here to mend fences.  There's a chance here to bury some of these wounds, but that's gonna be up to you."  Now, who knows what that would be?  Mitch McConnell's nose is supposedly still out of joint over what Cruz did to him on the floor of the Senate, calling him a liar about any number of things. 

So that would have to be patched up.  And I'm telling you Cruz people, if you go that way, you have got to go for the whole thing. You've got to go for 1,237.  That scenario, with Kasich and Rubio getting out, you cannot show up in second at the convention with neither you nor Trump having 1,237.  You can't show up in second place.  You have got to go all the way under this scenario.  That means you've got to win 1,237.  It means you've got to beat Trump the rest of the way.  And getting Rubio and Kasich out, the theory being that all of that Republican opposition to Trump will unify behind you. 

You better rework your math or look at your math because you can't go in there in second place with neither you nor Trump having the required number of delegates.  If Trump goes in there in first place and is only 50 or 60 delegates short, he's going to get the nod.  They're not gonna throw it open. That would cause chaos. I know that Senator Cruz has said that no, that wouldn't be chaos.  What would be chaos is if they throw a situation like that wide open and the establishment uses it to give it to Romney or some such thing. 

The other scenario involves keeping Kasich in.  Rubio is gonna drop out at some point.  The other scenario is to keep Kasich in for as long as he can stay in and hope that he wins some and denys Trump the 1,237, and you go in there and the convention is thus contested, and you win it on the second or third ballot by then unifying everybody behind you.  That... I don't know which of these two scenarios is the better of the two. The Cruz campaign obviously has a preferred scenario if they're looking at one of these two. 

What do you folks think?  What do you think is the most...? If you want to beat Trump, if you want Cruz to be the nominee, which take do you think's the best way to go about it?  Getting Kasich and Rubio out and everybody, including the establishment, unifying behind Cruz -- keeping in mind that the establishment is not gonna all of a sudden overnight start loving conservatives, and they're not all of a sudden gonna start actually loving Cruz.  This is all gonna be about stopping Trump. 

It does not mean the establishment is once again welcoming conservatives.  It won't mean that at all.  The other scenario is to keep Kasich in this as long as you can, go to a convention, deny Trump on the first ballot, have it contested, and then all bets are off after that.  Then you have a fun, exciting, unknown outcome at the convention, unlike we've had in a few.  One of those two scenarios has to be what they're working on -- and Cruz being the only nominee from this day forward involving Kasich and Rubio getting out.

You can't show up in second place in that theory, in my way of thinking. 

You've got to beat Trump before you get to Cleveland if you go that route.