John Kasich has enough delegates that he can probably put Donald Trump over the top if Trump doesn’t win the Republican presidential nomination on the first ballot at the party’s convention in Cleveland this summer.

That’s reason enough for Trump to put the Ohio governor on his ticket. In fact, he would do well to magnanimously throw the vice presidential nomination open to the convention with the knowledge that his own delegates would secure the spot for Kasich.

But pure palace intrigue is the least of the reasons that the GOP front-runner should run with Kasich.

The governor comes from a swing state that Republicans must win to take the presidency, he has crossover appeal with Democrats who watched the Republican debates and mistakenly thought he won every one, he’s got both executive and legislative experience and, most important, his selection would signal to both the establishment wing of the GOP and the general electorate that Trump is serious about governing.

He’s also an intriguing choice because he blunts Hillary Clinton’s advantage with voters who remember fondly — and foggily — the bipartisan deal-making of the Bill Clinton era. It was Kasich who sat at the table and hammered out budget deals in a time of surplus and a welfare reform law.