Former Ohio Gov. John Kasich is reportedly gearing up to speak at the Democratic National Convention — what there will be of it — to support Joe Biden over President Trump. It is the natural conclusion of the presidential run he flamed out of in 2016.
That Kasich has retroactively inserted himself into the Republican resistance to Trump is a masterful grift from start to finish. It was Kasich, after all, who made Trump’s win possible in the 2016 primary. Despite having no shot at victory (he wasn’t alone in this), he stayed in well past his expiration date, further splintering the anti-Trump vote. If anything, Kasich was more anti-Ted Cruz than anti-Trump; he refused to give up his no-hope bid until the day after Cruz dropped out of the race.
Kasich spent his waning days as Ohio’s governor vetoing pro-life and pro-gun bills before turning his anti-conservatism into a CNN gig. All along the way, he teased himself as a potential 2020 primary opponent for Trump. He would have been a threat to nothing but the turning of conservatives’ stomachs when they’d have to watch him hit the campaign trail again.
Kasich clearly miscalculated as to Republicans’ tolerance for such antics because now, he is being forced to seek attention and validation from a completely separate set of voters and politicians. He will be the DNC’s token former Republican.
“Remember when the GOP was reasonable?” party officials will say as they point to him. Meanwhile, the media is gearing up its “Token Republican Endorses Democrat” pieces for the next 10 years. It’s tough to tell whether this is a conscious grift by Kasich or if he’s just chasing the next ego boost that’s available.
Kasich, much like the anti-Trump and anti-Republican Lincoln Project, is probably doing the wise thing in choosing new partymates.
