John Kasich Plans To Drop Out — REPORT

On Wednesday, less than 24 hours after Ted Cruz revealed that he's dropping out of the race, NBC reported that John Kasich plans to suspend his presidential campaign later on Wednesday. A senior advisor told NBC that Kasich was planning to announce the official end of his campaign at 5 p.m., just one day after another devastating loss to Donald Trump and Ted Cruz in Indiana on Tuesday.

The announcement comes hours after Kasich's campaign said Wednesday night that the former governor wasn't going anywhere. "Sen. Ted Cruz just dropped out of the presidential race and it's up to us to stop Trump and unify our party in time to defeat Hillary Clinton," Kasich's campaign manager said in a Facebook post. "Gov. Kasich will remain in the race unless a candidate reaches 1,237 bound delegates before the Convention."

The sentiment appears to have been short-lived.

Should John Kasich drop out of the race, the Republican presidential field — once 17 people strong — will be down to one person, and that one person is Donald Trump. Ted Cruz's suspension of his candidacy hit home for political observers the world over that Trump would be the probable nominee, but given that only Trump is left in the race at this point, we can safely assume that Trump will be the GOP nominee for president.

Somewhere, Trump is fist-pumping in the penthouse of a Trump Tower, while the entire GOP establishment sinks to the ground and moans softly.

In the last week, the state of the race has become more clear than ever before. Barring a gigantic upset, Hillary Clinton will be the Democratic nominee for president, with the party firmly behind the former Secretary of State.

Meanwhile, Donald Trump will in all likelihood be the GOP candidate for president. The two, presumably, will square off in a series of fall debates. Given the distinction between their oratory skills — Clinton is a highly trained and gifted speaker, whereas Donald Trump is known for his potent, passionate rambling — it's sure to be a hell of a match-up.

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