Sitting down at a diner in South Philadelphia on Monday, Ohio Governor John Kasich couldn't help but remark "this little announcement got everybody stirred up it's kind of fun."
The announcement was the one that came almost simultaneously from both his and Senator Ted Cruz's campaign that they would be clearing the path in at least three state's for each other to compete against frontrunner Donald Trump for the Republican presidential nomination.
The deal has Cruz clearing the path for Kasich in Oregon and New Mexico and Kasich not campaigning in Indiana. When asked if he'd tell his Indiana supporters to vote for Cruz? "No, no, no I'm not going to go tell anybody how to vote," Kasich said.
WEWS Political Analyst Dr. Tom Sutton of Baldwin Wallace University said at this stage voters likely wouldn't listen.
"At this point in the primary season I think it's very unlikely that many voters are going to change their vote," said Sutton.
"What it does is save campaign money and face time so that Cruz can concentrate on Indiana, so that Kasich who is running short on cash can concentrate on Oregon and New Mexico. It does more for their campaign strategies then it does really for actual votes switching."
The framework of the deal was actually discussed after the Ohio primary but fell apart when Cruz's camp balked.
"Had this happened earlier it might have made some difference but again with many of these being closed primaries, these are already registered Republicans, they've had a lot of exposure, they knew among these three who they're going to vote for," Sutton said.
Cruz and Kasich remained clear on their main focus, denying Donald Trump the nomination.
"It is abundantly clear that nobody is getting to 1,237. We are headed to a contested convention," said Cruz.
Kasich adding "what's the big deal we're going to go to a convention, it's going to be an open convention and then the delegates will back that person who can do the best in the fall. "
