Political Wire

Kasich Heads to South Carolina

February 11, 2015 at 3:38 pm EST By Taegan Goddard 31 Comments

Ohio Gov. John Kasich (R), “a long-talked about potential Republican presidential contender, will travel to South Carolina next week to promote his hawkish brand of fiscal politics in one of the GOP primary’s early voting states,” the Washington Post reports.

“Kasich’s trip — his first to a primary battleground this year — comes as former Florida governor Jeb Bush, Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker and other possible rivals for the 2016 GOP nomination are moving quickly to hire staff and raise money for their all-but-certain bids.”

Is Kasich Taking a Different Path to the GOP Nomination?

January 23, 2015 at 12:18 pm EST By Taegan Goddard 23 Comments

“If Ohio Gov. John Kasich is thinking of running for president, he’s taking a very circuitous route. Mr. Kasich, one of several Republican governors seen as potential candidates, is spending much of this week traveling through six sparsely populated Western states to promote balancing the budget,” the Wall Street Journal reports.

Quote of the Day

January 22, 2015 at 7:44 am EST By Taegan Goddard 17 Comments

“I gotta tell you, turning down your money back to Montana on an ideological basis, when people can lose their lives because they get no help, doesn’t make a lot of sense to me.”

— Ohio Gov. John Kasich (R), quoted by the Great Falls Tribune, speaking to Montana Republicans in support of Medicaid expansion under Obamacare.

Kasich Pushes Balanced Budget Amendment

December 15, 2014 at 10:30 am EST By Taegan Goddard 26 Comments

“John Kasich watched the drama unfold in the Capitol last week with exasperation. The Republican governor of Ohio was upset with Democrats, but he was miffed at his own party, too — for engaging in the same old antics on government spending and the deficit, a matter with which Kasich became intimately familiar as a young congressman three decades ago,” Politico reports.

“Now Kasich is trying to do something about it, something that’s never been done in American history and is all but certain to fail again: He’s launching a national campaign to pass an amendment to the Constitution through the states, in this case to require a balanced federal budget. Success, though, may be almost beside the point: Worst case, Kasich is out there fighting for his cause, and raising his profile, ahead of a potential 2016 presidential candidacy.”

Kasich Begins Travels Around Country

December 12, 2014 at 8:12 am EST By Taegan Goddard 3 Comments

“As he wrestles with another run for president, Ohio Gov. John Kasich is trying keep his political maneuverings above the fray and below the radar,” the Cleveland Plain Dealer reports.

“Backed by a new nonprofit group that can raise unlimited cash, Kasich traveled to Phoenix with an unusually large entourage. He also widened his political circle, adding Sarah Nelson, a western states operative in Mitt Romney’s 2012 campaign who will help Kasich navigate the same terrain on his balanced budget tour.”

GOP Governors Start Slow on White House Bids

December 1, 2014 at 8:43 am EST By Taegan Goddard 8 Comments

Time: “While 2016 presidential hopefuls such as Sen. Rand Paul and former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton are moving ahead with White House runs, Christie and other Republican governors are biding their time. None will declare their campaigns before the New Year, and most are looking even later into 2015 to announce.”

“That doesn’t mean they’re standing still. The six governors looking at White House runs are doing their fair share of thinking and talking about 2016. Christie, Ohio’s John Kasich, Wisconsin’s Scott Walker, Louisiana’s Bobby Jindal, Indiana’s Mike Pence and Texas’ Rick Perry are all openly flirting with presidential runs.”

Huffington Post: It’s beginning to look an awful lot like 2016

Kasich Impresses at Republican Governor’s Meeting

November 22, 2014 at 10:41 am EST By Taegan Goddard 14 Comments

Dan Balz: “It wasn’t exactly the first debate of the 2016 cycle, but it became something of a warm-up, and included a favored tactic from 2012 GOP presidential debates of attacking the moderator to score points with the partisan audience.”

“If joint appearances provide a venue for distinguishing one candidate from another, the first round went to Kasich. The Ohio governor zagged when the others zigged, warning against an overreaction to President Obama’s immigration action, defending expansion of Medicaid under Obamacare and imploring his party to find ways to solve big problems despite differences with the president.”

Kasich Runs to the Middle

November 20, 2014 at 9:45 am EST By Taegan Goddard 22 Comments

If Ohio Gov. John Kasich (R) “wants to run for president, he has to distinguish himself from colleagues who also have eyes on the White House,” the Cleveland Plain Dealer reports.

“He accomplished that Wednesday, about an hour after landing here for a Republican Governors Association meeting seen as an early audition for donors… On three policy issues important to the party’s conservative base Kasich tracked more moderate than his potential rivals for the GOP nomination. And while many were happy to bash President Barack Obama, particularly as he plans an executive action around immigration reform, Kasich called for ‘cooler heads.'”

[speech_bubble type=”std” subtype=”a” icon=”pwdome.jpg” name=””]Kasich’s tone is so different from most Republicans that he really stands out.[/speech_bubble]