As Joe Biden prepares to clinch the Democratic nomination, the Associated Press reported on Monday that former Ohio Gov. John Kasich, a Republican and frequent critic of Trump, has been tapped to speak on his behalf at the Democratic National Convention next month. While it’s unclear whether or not the Kasich appearance will serve as an official endorsement, the move is clearly designed to further the campaign strategy that Biden has been laying the groundwork for since the earliest days of his candidacy. If the former Vice President has been propped up as a smiling, glad-handing alternative to the president, and not a pathway to any real progressive change, it makes sense to ensure that the circus tent is big enough to hold the large swaths of the GOP establishment Republicans who are already scrambling to distance themselves from the president.