Kasich ad to NYers: Your only choice is John Kasich

John Kasich is hitting the New York airwaves with an ad that says he’s the lone Republican who can beat Hillary Clinton in a presidential election. But he’s specifically bashing Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) rather than Donald Trump, a sign of Kasich’s strategy to accumulating delegates in the state’s April 19 primary.

And the ad is running on Long Island and in New York City, but not upstate.

Kasich, the Ohio governor and former congressman, is hitting one of his consistent campaign themes: Neither Cruz nor Trump can win enough moderate and “swing” voters to ensure a Republican victory this fall. The ad tells voters: “Your only choice is John Kasich.”

Notably, though, the ad mentioned Cruz, but not Trump. Polls show Trump running far ahead of the other two in New York but Cruz and Kasich neck-and-neck.

The ad also contends that Kasich can win the GOP nomination at a contested convention this summer — that’s his only hope because he can’t win a majority of delegates before the convention. New York awards delegates based on congressional district-by-congressional district results, rather than a statewide proportional allotment.

Here’s the script of Kasich’s 30-second ad:

“You have only one choice. One choice that will stop the Clinton political machine: John Kasich. Don’t be fooled. Ted Cruz can’t win the nomination outright and he can’t defeat Hillary Clinton either. John Kasich will win the convention and he’ll defeat Hillary Clinton in the fall. Want to stop the Clinton machine and win the White House? Your only choice is John Kasich.”