You’re absolutely right. But Kasich is the John Huntsman of this cycle. And he’ll go nowhere fast.
People like kasich and Linda Graham KNOW they are non-contenders....they get to bolster their war chests for their next race in their current incumbent status.
Kasich is a much more viable candidate than Huntsman, and is likely to pick up Jeb’s fundraisers and big-money supporters. In 2012, they already had Romney, and were not in the market.
The premise of Jeb was inevitability and predictability.
Trump has shattered those premises. Even if Jeb emerges the nominee (and it’s still likely) much like the boomlets for Cain, Santorum, and Gingrich demonstrated in 2007-2008 a deep ambivalence about Romney, Jeb’s poll standings show he’s very unlikely to provide the electricity needed to pull the Electoral College inside straight any Republican needs to win in November.
A lot of people will pay for access to the next President. Not as many will pay for backstage passes to a polite concession speech in a Miami ballroom.