The House majority leader who spoiled his chances of succeeding John Boehner as Speaker of the House appears to be a fan of John Kasich. Kevin McCarthy thinks its time to take another look at the Ohio governor’s presidential bid.
After referencing Kasich’s rise in some New Hampshire polling, CNN personality Alisyn Camerota asked McCarthy “Do you think that the establishment candidates still stand a chance this year?”
“I don’t know if you know John Kasich. No one really thinks he’s establishment,” McCarthy responded. “He’s always been an outsider trying to change from within. When he was in Congress he balanced the budget. He transformed Ohio. So I know people like to label people, but I’d take a second look at John Kasich. But New Hampshire has always been a place, remember that’s where John McCain came back, that’s where Ronald Reagan grabbed the microphone, said, ‘I paid for this microphone,’ and started coming back.”
While McCarthy insists that “no one” thinks of Kasich as part of the Washington, D.C., “establishment,” portrayals of Kasich by the press often suggest otherwise. MSNBC host Chris Matthews has gone so far to openly hope for a Democratic ticket pairing presidential candidate Hillary Clinton with Kasich.
And Kasich seems to recognize a sizable divide between his candidacy and the rest of the Republican contenders. Kasich’s campaign has routinely bashed Donald Trump, and the governor has lamented the present state of the GOP.
Kasich moved up to fourth in the Washington Examiner‘s newest GOP presidential power rankings.
