John Kasich continues to campaign in the race for the Republican presidential nomination amid increasing calls from many Republicans for him to exit.
Kasich's campaign is a "delusional vanity project masquerading as a presidential campaign," wrote Rich Lowry, editor of
National Review.
"This is not a campaign run by self-aware people who understand what's happening in the Republican party, or who know how math works," said former Mitt Romney spokesman Ryan Williams, reports
The Hill.
"He's now a spoiler," Republican Rep. Matt Salmon from Arizona tells The Hill.
Kasich has no chance, mathematically, to achieve the number of delegates he would need to gain the nomination outright. He has won only one state, his home state of Ohio.
But Kasich's followers believe he is a more viable candidate for the nomination than Donald Trump or Texas Sen. Ted Cruz.
They believe if they can keep Trump away from the nomination, Kasich would be in prime position to take the nomination in a contested GOP convention.
"Let them consolidate behind me," said Kasich on NBC's "Meet the Press."
"I'm the one that can win in the fall."
Kasich's campaign Spokesman Mike Schrimpf sees a path to a win in Wisconsin. A poll of political insiders tells
Politico Kasich could win out in a contested convention.
The Cruz and Kasich campaigns are at odds with each other, with both sides saying a vote for the other is support for Trump.
In Arizona's primary, Kasich finished behind Florida Sen. Marco Rubio, who had dropped out of the race a week earlier. His recent performance, said National Review's Lowry, "would have been enough to embarrass any lesser mortal out of the race."
"He's an institutional, traditional Republican insider-type who represents exactly what the voters are rejecting this election cycle," said American Principles Project founder Frank Cannon, who calls Kasich's run "unseemly."
"The campaign of John Kasich is a joke, and not a particularly funny one," Jeremy Carl wrote in
National Review.
Former Utah Gov. Mike Leavitt told
The New York Times Kasich has a new political base among anti-Trump Republicans who are aiming for a contested convention, Republicans who look toward the general election, and Republicans who think leadership is important.