A long time public relations machine for the now outbound, lame-duck governor, the very Republican newspaper devotes lots of column inches to what Kasich says on any given day. Whether he's "popping off," as he said he did when he called recent job numbers showing how bad the state is doing "fake news," or decrying politics and political parties, Ohio's so-called "Greatest Home Newspaper," follows his ever utterance, as it has since he first entered politics back in 1978.
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| Ohio Gov. John Kasich at the Ohio Statehouse during his first term. |
Basking in the limelight media afforded him, Kasich has got his TV rap down. A bare-knuckles politico his entire life, Kasich talks like he's no longer a politician, saying he's sick of politics, as if to buddy up with many in America who share the same thought. A life-long Republican who has walked the GOP pathway diligently for decades on lower taxes, less debt, fighting unions, standing against abortion and gay marriage while doing more to ease regulations than button them up, Kasich has one issue he owns, namely, expanding Medicaid in Ohio over the objections of the state's alt-right legislature that wanted to let low-income people in Ohio faced with health problems fend for themselves, to avoid the state's share of funding the federal/state health program from consuming a larger percentage of the two-year budget.
Democrats are complicit in giving Kasich the high-ground on the expansion, always referring to it now as "Kasich's expansion of Medicaid." These same Democrats, from the state party and its officials to Democrats running for various statewide offices or the legislature, seem unable to tie Kasich to busting public unions back in 2011. In his first year as governor, Ohio's 69th governor led the charge to enact SB 5 as him and his team threw themselves and a ton of resources into fending off a statewide referendum on the bill that broke 2-1 against the former Fox News channel TV host. Yet Kasich's name is never associated with SB 5, but he owns the admiration of Democrats when it comes to expanding Medicaid, a program he probably would have voted against had he been in congress in 1965 when President Lyndon Johnson got it passed because it created "dependency" on government, and he's not for that.
On a recent edition of CNN's "State of the Union" Sunday talk show, Kasich came on following a syrupy video endorsement by former Republican governor of California Arnold Schwarzenegger. The bodybuilder and adulterer wants Kasich to mount a third run for the White House by challenging Trump in 2020, should the New York real estate mogul and reality TV star still be president. Always wondering what the Lord has in store for him, Kasich man-handled show host Brianna Keilar like a cat plays with a mouse. Keiler thought the tough question to ask was if performance politician, who's honed his craft of bombastic commentary, intends to try to unseat Trump in the 2020 primary?
Headed for pasture, he risks being buried in the political graveyard once he leaves his perch as Ohio governor. Kasich, who has little interest in being governor these days, opined on Trump taking on new advisers, especially John Bolton. Keilar had no clue how poorly Ohio has performed under Kasich's control, where state schools fell from fifth to twenty-second in the nation, where tax cuts have only enriched the already wealthy leaving the state's median wage far below the national average, and where job creation has lagged the nation so much that Ohio today has fewer jobs than it did in 1980.
And so it is remembered, even though CNN and other media outlets have memory loss, John Kasich lost 49 state contests and only earned one Electoral College vote. He was the last candidate to bow out, but voters from the earliest states on were not enamored of Kasich as vote totals showed. Kasich stayed in the race because he knew that was the smart and political thing to do, even though his chances were less than nil to catch fire.
Kasich Lobbies To Guest Host SNL
3rd Rail Ohio, a right-of-center blog whose tag line says, "We touch what they won't," offered a stunningly funny story about Kasich secretly lobbying Saturday Night Live! executive producer Lorne Michaels to guest host the show. Kasich has claimed his low name ID, and lack of funds to boost his familiarity, was the reason he didn't do well in 2016. 3rd rail counters, saying he's unlikeable and has a mediocre record.
"While Kasich has been a fixture on the political shows, he is also trying to cross over into the pop culture scene, to 'be cool' and connect with millennials and that segment of the electorate that doesn’t watch Morning Joe and his girlfriend," wrote Cyndy Rees. "The results have thus far been, shall we say, mixed. But can you imagine Governor Kasich and his awkward Dad-jokes in an SNL monologue? Neither can we. And, we’re guessing, neither can Lorne."
A new poll by Baldwin Wallace in Ohio shows Trump would smash kasich by 11 points if an election were held today. CNN and other reporters call him a "moderate" governor, based solely on his decision to expand Medicaid, a decision he made that differs greatly from why Democrats wanted it.
For Kasich, the allure of $2.5 billion coming to the state was too much to pass up, and since the state had no obligation to kick in a ten-percent share until he was out of office, the decision was even easier. For those that follow since boring budgetary items like Medicaid costs, Kasich used some of those federal tax dollars to fund more tax cuts, by shedding programs the state had funding out of general revenue and letting Medicaid pick up the tab. It was a win-win for him: he got lots of money and Democrats, not Republicans, applauded him, making him their hero.
SOA would love to hear from anyone who can show Kasich spending more than three words to compliment any Democrat like Dems do for him. Kasich's innate inability to speak of anyone other than himself is a good reason why he's not vice presidential timbre. Can anyone imagine Kasich playing the adoring role to his superior like the role Mike Pence plays with Donald Trump? Are you kidding?
Dems Pursue Hands-Off On Kasich Policy
Insiders at the Ohio Democratic Party tell SOA that state party leaders don't pound on Kasich because he's not on the ballot and his approval is above 50 percent. SOA would argue that Ted Strickland isn't on the ballot this year either, but that's not stopping Republicans from bashing him and his record on jobs, when "The Great Recession" took down Ohio like it did virtually every other state. And maybe, just maybe, Kasich is as popular as he is precisely because ODP and Democratic candidates have taken a hands-off approach to him.
Democrats have made Kasich their hero on Medicaid expansion, an awkward set of circumstances he'll point to as another exception to his rule of being a locked-in GOPer on virtually all other issues. Democrats seem to have no appetite to go after him. Were they to grow a backbone on it, Kasich-friendly media might find it hard not to cover their criticism, which would be valid, based on his very observable record.
The governor who some say is virtually stealing from the state, now that he's outbound, mostly to venues outside the state, is auditioning well as the "gone governor."
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