Ohio Gov. John Kasich doesn’t have much of a following among conservative primary voters yet, but some conservative activists, establishment Republicans and New Hampshire GOPers are open to backing the latest 2016 presidential candidate.
FreedomWorks CEO Adam Brandon told the Washington Examiner that while he disagrees with some of Kasich’s actions as governor, he would not rule out supporting him just yet.
“I think Republicans would be a lot happier with the guy who, you know, [was there] when he first got to office than the guy who is supporting these other things,” Brandon said. “At this point, this reminds me of the NFL where you’ve got 90 guys on a team. They got to go through the training camp in the summer to winnow it down to 53. … There’s things that he’s done that’s good that I would like to highlight, but there’s also the Medicaid expansion and Common Core, those are real problems.”
Brandon said some FreedomWorks activists have fought with the governor in Ohio, but he should also receive positive remarks from his time in Congress as a “pit bull” who helped balance the federal budget. His support for Common Core and decision to expand Medicaid under Obamacare does not seem to have won him any new fans from within FreedomWorks’ ranks. The question for conservative activists becomes, Brandon said, whether Kasich offers a mea culpa or doubles down on his controversial positions.
The Wall Street Journal views Kasich’s candidacy much more favorably. In an unsigned editorial titled, “The Case for Kasich,” the paper identified him as a candidate with a “capable record” as governor and congressman, who could have broad appeal across the spectrum of GOP voters.
“Mr. Kasich’s badgering moralizing is one of his less attractive qualities, and his unfiltered streams of political consciousness — he told kids not to use drugs in an aside in his announcement speech Tuesday — may get him into trouble on the trail,” the Journal wrote. “Then again, no Republican has ever won the White House without carrying the swing state of Ohio, and perhaps Mr. Kasich can take his Buckeye successes national. He’s more likely to find an audience if he underscores his record and economic ideas rather than his moral superiority.”
The Journal also noted that he would lose if he chooses to lecture Republicans about their wrongs, and said, “The question is whether he can overcome his political [sic] idiosyncrasies and frequent self-control outages.”
Kasich, who can be perceived as a “jerk,” may need to adopt a different tone on the campaign trail around voters who are predisposed to oppose his moderate positions. But other Republicans view Kasich favorably because of his success winning 86 out of 88 counties in the Buckeye State during his 2014 reelection victory.
Peter Thomson, the son and former chief of staff to New Hampshire Gov. Meldrim Thomson, wrote that he typically does not campaign for his favorite candidates but will do so in 2016 because Kasich is running for higher office.
“No Republican has ever moved into the White House without having first won the state of Ohio in the general election,” Thomson wrote in the New Hampshire Union Leader. “Gov. Kasich by far gives us the best chance of winning Ohio, having just been re-elected by a landslide in 2014. When the polls closed that day, he had won 86 of 88 counties, 60 percent of women voters, 26 percent of African-American voters and 57 percent of voters aged 18-29. In fact, very recent polling shows the governor easily beating Hillary Clinton in the Buckeye State; no other Republican candidate can boast that key point.”
“I find Gov. Kasich’s decision to run for President similar to my Dad’s decision: not something to do to cap off an impressive career, but instead answering the call from above.”
Kasich’s path to the nomination may not require divine intervention, but it appears narrow. It’s also similar to another candidate perceived as a moderate Republican, New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie. Both men are spending much of their time in New Hampshire, and Kasich has already begun running ads in the state. On Tuesday, former New Hampshire Sen. John Sununu took the stage to campaign on Kasich’s behalf.
Kasich receives the support of fewer than two percent of GOP primary voters, according to RealClearPolitics’ average of polls. The timing of his announcement may have been designed to lift him onto the campaign stage in Cleveland early next month, but his staying power appears tied to his fate in New Hampshire.
