Elections

Here’s One Way John Kasich Becomes The GOP Nominee

Reuters/Joe Skipper

Alex Pfeiffer White House Correspondent
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A war-game simulation of the upcoming Republican National Convention has Gov. John Kasich winning the nomination with both Sen. [crscore]Ted Cruz[/crscore] and Donald Trump leaving the GOP to run an independent bid.

The simulation was conducted by a group of over 70 lawyers who are a part of an “Inn of Court” society that meets regularly. They were split into teams representing Kasich, Cruz, and Trump. Playmaker Systems organized the simulation and the participants were instructed to use the “Standard Table of Influence” which Playmaker has developed.

The simulation was primarily for the purposes of focusing on negotiation and putting the attorneys in a situation they are not used to.

It consisted of three rounds: two of which are pre-convention and the final being the convention. In this simulation not one candidate entered the race with the majority of candidates.

In the first round Trump introduced himself as a uniter, Kasich as being the only candidate able to defeat Hillary, and said if chosen he will ask convention delegates to choose his nominee. The RNC responded to the candidates by saying they don’t think Cruz can win in the general and that he should join Kasich as his vice president.

In Round 2, Cruz offers Trump a slot to be his vice president, Trump in response offers Cruz a chance to be his running mate. The RNC then says, “having the authority to set rules and procedure, and being the steward of conservative principles, we hereby require that any candidate to whom delegates are attached shall have been a registered Republican for the last four election cycles.”

If this hypothetical rule change would occur, Trump would become ineligible for the Republican nomination. He has previously been a registered Democrat.

Kasich finishes off the round by agreeing with the rule change and saying if elected president at “the earliest opportunity, nominate Ted Cruz to the Supreme Court.”

In the third and final round, the RNC announces that since not one candidate has gained the support of the majority delegates, they all become unbounded in order to speed up a multi-ballot process. Kasich welcomes this and says, “I ask that [the delegates] think simply about the concept of governing and determine who, among elected executives of the United States and territories, has the experience to serve as president in a manner that is positive, productive and mutual.”

In response to this development Cruz tells Donald Trump he is willing to serve as the New York real estate developer’s running mate in a new party. Trump says “you’re hired,” and the two leave to form an independent bid.

Alan Kelly, founder of Playmaker Systems, told The Daily Caller his practice usually pertains to private companies so it is difficult comparing past war-game results to reality.

However, he did say, “my system does a good job at very precisely identifying the very nature of the game or gamesmanship that is being played by a competitor and that allows my clients to calibrate more carefully ways in which they can mitigate the threat or even flip it to their advantage.”