POLITICO Screen grab New York Daily News endorses Kasich, denounces Cruz and Trump

The New York Daily News has endorsed John Kasich for president, spilling as much ink denouncing his rivals Donald Trump and Ted Cruz as making a positive case for the Ohio governor.

The tabloid's reliably saucy print cover, set to hit newsstands on Thursday, features the headline “NEVERTRUMP” emblazoned across its front page with the subtext “NEVER CRUZ, EITHER!” in parenthesis. “Kasich is clearly only choice for GOP,” it reads.


The editorial board of the Daily News — which is far more liberal than its arch-rival, the Murdoch-owned New York Post — urged New York’s 2.7 million registered Republican voters to vote for Kasich's “principled, pragmatic conservatism” in the state’s presidential primary next Tuesday.

“By his record of accomplishment in public life, by the credibility of his plans, by a temperament that marries a small government outlook with can-do effectiveness, Ohio Gov. John Kasich is highly suited to carry the GOP banner into the general election,” the endorsement begins.

“Kasich’s qualifications are all the clearer — screamingly so — when matched against those of competitors Donald Trump and Ted Cruz.”

The letter portrays Trump and Cruz as deeply flawed candidates, describing the Texas senator as an “ideologue” and claiming the billionaire businessman “suffers from the irreparable, disqualifying defect of being Trump.”

The News takes on the growing questions about Kasich's viability — he's won only his home state so far — by arguing that Trump won't wrap up the nomination before the Republican National Convention in July, and mocking his recent struggles wrangling delegates.

“Gone is Trump’s aura of invincibility and inevitably," the editorial declares.

Unlike his rivals, Kasich is “a mature, grounded politician” who fares well in hypothetical general-election matchups, the board argues, calling on New Yorkers to “set aside the Kool-Aid of a candidate who has historic nationwide negative ratings, is especially loathed by women and is walloped by Democrats Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders in general election polls."

The endorsement goes on to detail Kasich’s credentials, including serving nine terms in Congress and a successful reelection as Ohio’s governor, while reassuring readers that he “meets the tests of Republican conservatism.”

“In the strongest possible terms, the Daily News endorses John Kasich in the April 19 Republican primary, first because he would well represent the Republican Party in November (when a contest with Clinton would be welcome) and second because every vote for Kasich is a vote against a recklessly arrogant man who would demean the highest office in the land,” it concludes.