Joe Biden is living proof that the VP can be the village idiot and not impact the election. It only matters if the President is incapacitated or worse during his term. THEN, you want a strong VP to step in. Dick Cheney would be the best example I can think of in my lifetime.
While winning OH may be a good reason for choosing Kasich, you could apply that logic to a lot of other people and states. I think that logic applies to Cruz and carrying the south (Not saying Trump should have to pick either of these).
I have long said that, for the number of people and leaders we have in our nation of 300 million, the bench of candidates seems pathetically shallow. It would not surprise me at all for Trump to pull from a completely different pool of talent. I have no doubt he has the resources to find the best folks to work with him.
You don’t get it. Cruz is universally hated in the legislature except for about 50 guys in the conservative caucus. He is hated in the Senate by almost everybody.
When Trump wins the nomination as he will most certainly do in the next few weeks he is going to have to mend fences with the party. Cruz is the worst possible choice. He brings nothing to the ticket. And down the road he will be opposed to Trump’s agenda and certainly have no standing of credibility with the Congress to advance it. He’s the last guy in the world I’d pick.