Wow! That was quick. After blanket coverage to kick off the Monday morning news cycle the Ted Cruz-John Kasich team-up to deprive Donald Trump of delegates appears to have already flamed out. It was a combination borne of desperation that had much in common with Oscar and Felix considering the vast differences in style for the odd couple outside of a mutual loathing of Trump. This was simply never going to work out because Team Cruz has spilled much bad blood over the stubborn persistence of the Ohio Governor to stay in the race despite having – as Trump pointed out – won only 1 of 38 states.

Politico is reporting that “Cruz-Kasich pact shows signs of Strain”:

Ted Cruz and John Kasich’s shotgun wedding is already on the rocks.

Just hours after their campaigns put out statements proclaiming that they would divvy up some of the remaining states in an attempt to deny Donald Trump the nomination outright, the alliance looked anything but solid.

First Kasich appeared to undermine the deal, saying he wouldn’t tell his supporters to vote for Cruz.

Then Cruz was forced to defend the logic of the late-in-the-game pact during a news conference broadcast across the networks.

First Kasich appeared to undermine the deal, saying he wouldn’t tell his supporters to vote for Cruz.

Then Cruz was forced to defend the logic of the late-in-the-game pact during a news conference broadcast across the networks.

And the Trump buzzsaw gleefully sliced into the alliance, with the Republican frontrunner calling it a desperate act that proves his argument that the GOP establishment is corrupt and is rigging the system against him.

Trump proceeded to make a mockery of pundit claims that he would take on a presidential posture, delighting in skewering Cruz as a do-nothing senator and Kasich as a “disgusting” eater.

“All he is is a guy that will go down and stand and filibuster for a day or two, and the other senators all look, ‘When is he getting off the floor, Jim?’” Trump shouted at a rally in Rhode Island, talking about Cruz. “’Guy’s a pain in the ass. When’s he getting off the floor?’”

Whatever it was and whoever brokered the arrangement didn’t get much bang for their buck. Trump immediately pounced, shedding that new “presidential” image and slipping back into attack mode. The buzzer to buzzer front-runner went straight for Kasich’s throat, attacking him for eating like a slob while blasting the joint venture as “collusion” while in the process ripping back control of the Monday news cycle.

The establishment is really scraping the bottom of the barrel these days.