In rare move, Rubio asks Republicans to back Kasich in Ohio

MIAMI – Republican presidential front-runner Donald Trump is calling for the party to unify behind him, but opponents are taking unusual steps to block him from victory in critical primary states Ohio and Florida on Tuesday.

On Friday, Florida Sen. Marco Rubio urged voters in Ohio to cast ballots for fellow challenger John Kasich, the state’s governor.

“If you want to stop Trump in Ohio, Kasich’s the only guy who can beat him there,” Rubio spokesman Alex Conant said in an interview with The Associated Press.

In turn, Rubio is hoping to win in his home state, splitting the day’s two big delegate prizes and keeping them out of Trump’s hands.

While only Kasich can take on Trump in Ohio, “Marco is the only guy who can beat him in Florida,” Conant said.

Polls suggest Kasich has a better chance in his state than Rubio has in Florida, but it’s important to both of them, and to other remaining candidate Ted Cruz, to keep Trump from sweeping the two big states and taking a big step toward securing the Republican nomination.

But Trump picked up an endorsement Friday from onetime rival Ben Carson.

The developments came a day after a surprisingly civil Republican debate in which Trump warned the party to end its civil war over his candidacy and to “be smart and unify.”

While the debate focused on issues rather than insults, it was not clear that Cruz, Rubio or Kasich were able to gain ground on the New York billionaire.

In all, 367 Republican delegates are at stake in Tuesday’s voting that also takes place in Illinois, Missouri, North Carolina, and the Northern Mariana Islands, which could go a long way toward determining the Republican nominee.

In the race for Republican delegates, Trump has 459, Cruz 360, Rubio 152 and Kasich 54. It takes 1,237 to win the Republican nomination for president

Democrats Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders also will be competing on Tuesday, with Clinton out to regain momentum after her startling loss to Sanders in Michigan this week.

Thursday’s Republican debate still had its share of criticism.

Rubio’s message: “I know that a lot of people find appeal in the things Donald says. The problem is, presidents can’t just say anything they want because it has consequences around the world.”

Cruz, eager to cement his position as the party’s last best alternative to Trump, said: “His solutions don’t work.”

Trump was clearly intent on projecting a less bombastic, and more presidential, image.

“We’re all in this together,” he said. “We’re going to come up with solutions. We’re going to find the answer to things.”

In a discussion of the threat posed by radicalized Muslims, Trump refused to back away from his recent statement that “Islam hates the West.” He said he wouldn’t stoop to being “politically correct” by avoiding such statements.

Rubio had a sharp comeback: “I’m not interested in being politically correct. I’m interested in being correct.”