Paul Ryan Squashes Nomination Talk As Candidates Eye New York Primary
NEW YORK (CBSNewYork/AP) -- House Speaker Paul Ryan closed the door on a possible run for president.
As CBS2's Dick Brennan reported, Ryan called a special press conference amid growing speculation the Republican insiders wanted to nominate him.
Not only did he squash the possibility that he could enter the race at the convention, but he also said the nominee should be somebody who's taken part in the primary process.
"I chose not to do this. Therefore I should not be considered. Period. End of story," Ryan said.
Ryan was a potential white knight that delegates could turn to in a deadlocked convention. Ryan said leave it to the candidates.
"If no candidate has a majority in the first ballot, I believe that you should only choose from a person who has actually participated in the primary. Count me out," he said.
Tensions are fraying in both parties as Democratic Hillary Clinton and Republican Donald Trump try to stave off the prospect of a lengthy battle to the nomination with big victories in New York.
Both are hoping for sizable delegate gains in the state's primary next week as most of the candidates continue to hold campaign events across the state.
There are 95 delegates up for grabs for the Republicans, and 291 on the Democratic side.
Clinton will be in Manhattan Tuesday while her husband, former President Bill Clinton, will be stumping for her in Queens.
She joined U.S. women's soccer star Megan Rapinoe and others to talk about the pay gap.
"Groceries don't cost us less, rent doesn't cost us less, so why should we be paid less," she said.
Polls say Clinton holds double digit lead in New York, but Sanders' turnout will matter.
Sanders and Trump were both campaigning in upstate New York Tuesday.
"Please do everything you can to come out and vote, bring your friends, your neighbors," Sanders said.
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Ohio Gov. John Kasich is scheduled to give what's being billed as a major speech in New York City. Ted Cruz, who is not expected to do well in New York, is instead campaigning in California.
Kasich would have to win 126 percent of the remaining Republican delegates to clinch the presidential nomination. But he told CBS2's Janelle Burrell Tuesday morning those odds aren't stopping him.
"I'm not really frustrated about anything. It's just it's a road, you put one foot in front of the other," Kasich said.
According to a new Wall Street Journal poll, Kasich is currently in second place among New York Republicans ahead of the primaries, but still is more than 30 points behind Trump. Overall, he's in third place behind Cruz and Trump. Kasich is hoping for a brokered convention in his home state of Ohio.
"I feel very good about us heading into that convention," he said.
Kasich campaigned Tuesday, at the Schmura Matzoh Bakery, and warned voters against both of his opponents.
"Anybody that chooses to drive America on the dark side is not doing a favor to the American people, because we will, we will overcome," he said.
Speaking at a rally in Albany Monday, Trump courted upstate voters.
"We're going to win so much you may even get tired of winning," Trump told the crowd. He also angrily denounced what he called a "rigged system'' within the Republican party. He said it's allowing his presidential rivals to siphon off delegates that should be rightfully be his.
"The system, folks, is rigged," he told the crowd. "It's a rigged, disgusting, dirty system."
Trump's campaign has been outmaneuvered by Cruz at a series of recent state meetings to select national convention delegates, including a sweep of all 34 Colorado delegates at the party's state convention.
At the rally, Trump told supporters that he's "millions of votes ahead'' of Cruz.
More than a year ago, Cruz's campaign built state-by-state organizations to fight for delegate support. The strategic move means if no one has the required number of delegates to secure the nomination and there is a brokered convention, Cruz could gain delegates in states where Trump won the popular vote in the primaries, Burrell reported.
"It's going to be a battle in Cleveland to see who can earn a majority of the delegates," Cruz said Monday.
The rhetoric between Cruz and Trump got even more heated this week, with the word 'mobster' in the mix.
On the Glenn Beck radio show Cruz likened Trump to the mob boss in the movie The Godfather.
"Donald Trump needs to understand he is not Michael Corleone. I understand Donald has had very shady business deals with people currently in prison, mobsters, but the presidency should not be La Cosa Nostra," Cruz said.
Cruz also accused Trump of threatened delegates.
Trump has been saying the system is rigged against him, after Cruz collected all the delegates in Colorado.
"I find out I get less delegates than this guy that got his ass kicked, okay? Give me a break," Trump said.
Clinton also picked up the endorsement of the New York City Council's Jewish caucus.
Sanders continued his swing across upstate New York, appearing in Rochester Tuesday.
"In the last two weeks, two out of three national polls had us ahead," Sanders said.
The latest polling has Trump with a 33 point lead in New York and Clinton with a 14 point lead.
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