Another Republican governor in the field with a decent record in his home state, and a big re-election win in 2014, is Ohio’s John Kasich. So far, he’s been pretty quiet about the prospects of launching a 2016 presidential campaign but it appears now he’s open to considering it after a recent trip to New Hampshire.
Report from The Columbus Dispatch:
He sounded like a presidential candidate and those listening seemed to like him.
That’s the report from Dispatch Public Affairs Editor Darrel Rowland who is with Republican Gov. John Kasich in New Hampshire , the first primary state.
For those new here, Kasich is thinking about entering the crowded Republican 2016 presidential field.
And after one day in New Hampshire, Kasich said this about the possibility of running: “A lot of things have to go into this consideration. I just don’t know. But I tell you what, you come to something like this and you see how people react and it’s pretty positive. It definitely has an impact on the way you think.”
People in New Hampshire called him “a great leader” and that his talk was “one of the most professional” that they had seen from a potential candidate. One person also said “he’ll be a very serious contender,” if he enters the race.
The governor said he will likely hire more staff and may plan a trip to Iowa, where the caucuses vote first in the nation in the presidential cycle.
Kasich is fairly moderate and fits somewhere in between Jeb Bush and Scott Walker, in my assessment. He won re-election in Ohio with a 30 point margin of victory after his Democratic opponent imploded. Kasich has decent approval ratings but he isn’t someone who has a strong conservative backing or has any ability to ignite the base which is usually necessary for a primary run. The field just keeps growing and growing.
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