Ohio Gov. John Kasich touted his campaign’s second place standing in New Hampshire on Tuesday morning as reason that his presidential bid has a chance there and beyond.
“At the end of the day, people want someone who can land the airplane,” he told CNN’s Alisyn Camerota. “If I thought [Donald Trump] was unstoppable, I’d go back to Ohio tomorrow. He’s not unstoppable. It’s a long way to the finish line.”
He also said he expects the field to continue to winnow as primary season continues. After Monday night’s Iowa caucuses, former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee dropped out.
“The smaller the field is, the more people will be able to hear people like me,” Kasich said. “Look, nobody in the country knows who I am. They just don’t. They know who I am in New Hampshire, but I’m not a celebrity candidate. I didn’t have a national television show. I don’t live in Washington. I’m the governor of Ohio. So nobody knows me, but we do well here. That whole business of being known is gonna change.”
When asked how, Kasich said “because you’re all going to be talking about me.”
“And then people are gonna say ‘who is this guy? How do you pronounce his name? Is it Kas-itch?’ ” he said. “It rhymes with basic. And then hopefully things will shrink and we’ll have dialogue.”
He went on to say the campaign will know if it will live beyond the Feb. 9 New Hampshire primary on the morning after.
“And then all of a sudden, you folks will be forced to shift a little bit of your attention away from the Trumper.”
Camerota then asked Kasich about his love of music and what was the best concert he ever went to.
“Pink Floyd’s ‘The Wall.’ Roger Waters is a remarkable artist and I saw ‘The Wall’ in Pittsburgh, it was absolutely incredible. I don’t even have to think twice. It was the best,” he said. “And if I’m president, I am going to once and for all try to reunite Pink Floyd to come together and play a couple songs.
“And since we have so much trouble in America with our finances, I’m going to start with a little song they created called ‘Money.’ ”
