Longtime Republican public opinion guru Frank Luntz tweeted during Tuesday night’s debate that John Kasich’s constant interruptions weren’t going over well with his New Hampshire focus group.
In fact, Luntz said the group was “really offended” by the interruptions, which elicited the “lowest dials” of the debate. New Hampshire has been one of the states where the Ohio governor has been polling best.
This highlights a problem for Kasich. There is likely an audience for someone who will combat some of the less realistic ideas being batted around in the Republican debates and specifically someone who will act as a counterpoint to Donald Trump.
“The blue-collar wing of the Republican primary electorate has consolidated around one candidate,” observes Ronald Brownstein. That’s Trump. “The party’s white-collar wing remains fragmented.”
That could be an opening for Kasich. But like John McCain in 2000 and Jon Huntsman in 2012 (all — coincidentally? — advised by John Weaver), Kasich goes too far and seems to be running against the Republican Party’s base. Worse, Kasich isn’t as mellow as Huntsman and hasn’t been as effective in his national “maverick” branding as McCain. Jeb Bush has a lesser version of this problem, but is also more subdued.
Luntz later tweeted that his focus group “is yelling at the screen. They don’t want Kasich to speak.”
Kasich would like to be the adult in the room at the GOP debates. But is that how he’s really being seen by rank-and-file Republican voters?
