CONCORD, N.H. — John Kasich’s chances of finishing second in the New Hampshire primary have risen dramatically in recent weeks, marking a trend few saw coming, including, perhaps, the Ohio governor.
Kasich, who’s spent months flying under the radar in the Republican presidential field, suddenly leapt to second place in a series of state-level polls last week and received a handful of new endorsements from local newspapers.
But if the compassionate, conservative candidate finishes strong in the Granite State, where his campaign has bet it all, how prepared is he to rally support in the states that follow?
“It’s coming along. We have a lot to do in South Carolina,” Kasich admitted Sunday, shortly after concluding his 75th town hall in New Hampshire.
“Of course there’s going to be a rush, but they say Napoleon marched across Europe in a week [and] I think I’ve got more than a week,” he told the Washington Examiner.
“I can get this done,” he added, seconds after acknowledging his campaign would have a short window of time to boost, or in some cases build, their ground operation in later voting states.
Unlike New Hampshire, where Kasich has four field offices, 14 staffers, 11 state co-chairs and hundreds of volunteers, the governor’s ground game is second-rate in South Carolina and Nevada, where voters will next cast their ballots.
“You always want to keep an ace in the hole, but in his case he doesn’t really have the resources to begin with,” Ford O’Connell, a seasoned campaign strategist, told the Examiner.
“Depending on what happens in New Hampshire, some [candidates] are going to be scurrying resources and donations to flip it to the next state,” O’Connell added.
However, Kasich claims that if he finishes strong in New Hampshire and can just hang on until Super Tuesday, when a handful of Southern states are slated to hold their primaries, he’ll be in a good position.
“When we get to the South, I’m going to be extremely comfortable being there,” he said, adding that he has “the best organization” in Mississippi and is “on the ballot now in well over 30 states.”
“We’ll have a national campaign,” the two-term governor stated matter-of-factly, before leaving to board his bus for campaign stop No. 76.
