Cruz-Kasich Pact Already Looks Shaky

That was fast: The deal Ted Cruz and John Kasich forged on Sunday to stop Donald Trump winning already looks shaky, with confusion over whether Kasich's supporters should vote for him or not next week. Trump, meanwhile, is poised to win all five Eastern states—Pennsylvania, Delaware, Maryland, Rhode Island, and Connecticut—voting in Tuesday's primaries. A roundup of coverage:

• Kasich appeared to undermine the deal on Monday when he told reporters that Indiana supporters should still vote for him, reports the Washington Post. "I've never told 'em not to vote for me," Kasich said. "They ought to vote for me. But I'm not over there campaigning and spending resources." Hours earlier, Kasich's Indiana campaign co-chair had said his supporters should vote for Cruz to keep Trump from winning the state on May 3.

• Republican insiders are very skeptical about whether the deal will actually work, the Hill reports. Some believe Kasich supporters are unlikely to embrace Cruz. The Ohio governor's supporters are now "left choosing between two people who they see as unappealing," GOP operative Mike Murphy says.
• On the campaign trail Monday, Trump slammed the "collusion" as evidence of how "weak" and "pathetic" his rivals are, reports the Guardian. "If you collude in business, or if you collude in the stock market, they put you in jail," he said. "But in politics, because it's a rigged system, because it's a corrupt enterprise, in politics you're allowed to collude."
• RedState explains the delegate allocation process in the five states voting Tuesday and predicts a near-total sweep for Trump, though a weak spot could be Pennsylvania, which is the only state where polls put Cruz instead of Kasich second.
• FiveThirtyEight also predicts Trump wins in all five states, though its state-by-state analysis finds a few spots where Kasich could sneak wins.
• It will be interesting to see which version of Trump takes the stage for a victory speech, the New York Times notes. If it's the Trump who slams Cruz as "Lyin' Ted" instead of the more statesmanlike Trump seen after his New York victory, it could signal that a "messy spectacle at the convention" lies ahead, whether he gets 1,237 delegates or not.

(Trump's latest target is Kasich's "disgusting" eating habits.)