Why did Cruz drop out but not Kasich?

[sofa king]

4. Kasich is doing the Richard Petty move.

Richard Petty the NASCAR driver often used to say that the best place to be in a race was in second at the final turn, so that one can sweep out with a burst of momentum and be first across the finish line.

Kasich is a far distant second, it is true, but he's second behind an absurdly unpredictable narcissist who can do or say something to ruin his own chances--crash and burn, to stick to the analogy--at any time. Or, he can be pushed into the wall by one of the lapped candidates, or black-flagged from the judges' booth.

Kasich is not the only candidate who appears to be running with some sort of insider knowledge--or a reasonable guess--that something in Trump's past is so bad that he won't win the nomination no matter how many delegates he gets. But by staying in it, Kasich makes it more likely that he'll be the first considered as a replacement candidate.

There is a three-week dead zone in election cycle news in June-July in which Trump could wind up being overwhelmed and sunk with public disclosure, as every journalist airs out the dirty laundry. If it's really bad, the US Department of Justice, and Treasury, and State... they all might have information to release, if Trump's near-certain criminal past crosses the line into espionage, high financial crimes, or murder. That's when everyone will converge on Trump and try to force him out if his demagoguery is truly traitorous rather than merely frightening.