Who is John Kasich? That’s the question many have asked since he stood out from the crowd of 10 at the first Republican presidential debate.
For starters, he loves to talk about his humble upbringing in rural Pennsylvania. In his memoir, Kasich described his younger self as a “small, scrappy kid.” His parents, who were children of Eastern European immigrants, worked at the post office. His grandfather died of a lung disease after years of working in a coal mine.
Kasich only left the town of McKees Rocks, Pennsylvania, in 1970 to attend Ohio State University. By the time he was 26, Kasich wanted to shake things up in state government. He drove door to door campaigning for a seat in the Ohio Senate in 1978 and pulled it off. Two years later, he ran for Congress, where he served for almost 20 years, and went on to lead the House Budget Committee.
Kasich ran for president in 2000 only to lose to George W. Bush, whom he ended up endorsing. Instead of going back to Washington, Kasich took a payday on Wall Street as a managing director at Lehman Brothers. He doesn’t like talking about that last part as much — Lehman went bankrupt in 2008, which lit the fuse to the global financial crisis. So he went back to his roots: Ohio and politics. Kasich became the state’s governor in 2010 and was reelected in 2014.
Now, he’s longing for his days in Washington and is running again for the Oval Office. Only this time, he’s fighting harder to be heard. He barely even qualified for the main debate stage, but that’s where he shined — his considerably moderate views of key issues helped him rise above the field of hawks.
What’s so different about him?
Perhaps Kasich’s most shocking split from the GOP is Medicaid — he wants to expand it, and in a big way. In fact, he’s already accepted federal funds as part of the Affordable Care Act to do just that in Ohio as governor. His case for such an expansion is both a moral and economic one. He believes in helping out the disadvantaged, and that in doing so, helping poor workers get back on their feet and pay taxes to the state.
While this helped make Kasich a distinguishable candidate, it also put a giant target on his back. The vast majority of his party was opposed to Obamacare as well as the Medicare expansion provision. Other Republican governors like Bobby Jindal of Louisiana, who is also running for president, hit Kasich hard on his decision.
He also takes a moderate position when it comes to same-sex marriage. Just to be clear, Kasich opposes same-sex marriage like many Republicans running for office. But when he answered a question on same-sex marriage at the debate, he answered with a message of acceptance, which was met with wide applause from the audience.
Kasich’s answer to same-sex marriage may have been the perfect middle ground for a Republican candidate. Sure, there’s been some progress in the party — some Republicans like Sen. Rob Portman (R-Ohio) have pushed for marriage equality — but many conservatives still view marriage as an institution between a man and a woman. With his answer, Kasich can keep his conservative creds while promoting more social tolerance.
Where does he stand on other issues?
The hallmark of Kasich’s campaign is his economic platform. His big focus? Cutting taxes and regulations to bring U.S. corporations back from other countries. He believes his focus will help overcome wage stagnation and flaunts his time in Congress — where he and President Bill Clinton balanced the budget — and the governor’s mansion — where he cut taxes and still balanced the state budget — as credentials. However, conservative economists remain skeptical of Kasich’s plans because he expanded Medicare in Ohio.
On many other hot topics, Kasich maintains his middle-of-the-road attitude. He’s in favor of tougher crackdowns at the border but open to a pathway to citizenship for undocumented immigrants. To CNN’s Dana Bash he said, “They’re hard workers, they’re God-fearing, they’re family-oriented,” reflecting conservative values while attempting a delicate balance.
Kasich has also championed criminal justice reform. He supports giving lighter prison sentences for nonviolent offenders and focusing the system on rehabilitation. In 2012, he signed a bill that would make it easier for ex-felons get jobs after they are released from prison.
However, Kasich’s position comes across as more ambiguous than tempered or in-line with. Kasich believes climate change is real and that human activity affects the environment, but he declined to fully embrace the scientific consensus of man-made climate change. He opposes environmental regulations such as President Barack Obama’s plan to cut carbon emissions from power plants.
When it comes to foreign policy, Kasich sides with the majority of his party. According to the Washington Post, he believes “a coalition of NATO, Arab states, and ultimately some boots on the ground” are necessary to curbing the advances of the Islamic State. He is also opposed to the nuclear deal with Iran and supports arming Ukraine to push back Russian influence.
But does he have a chance?
Kasich has made remarkable strides in the polls and headlines since announcing his run in July. He has been rising in the polls in New Hampshire, narrowly leading the likes of Carly Fiorina, Jeb Bush and Scott Walker. The Ohio governor also boasts he can beat the Democrats in the key battleground state, where he has a 61 percent approval rating.
But Kasich is still a longshot. He does not have Bush’s 9-figure war chest nor name recognition. His messages are drowned out by the likes of Donald Trump. And his support of Medicare expansion just might be his Achilles heel.
Kasich is appealing to moderate Republicans, who make up about 25 percent of the party, but he may be leaning too left for the far-right, who staunchly disagree with much of his platform. So far, Kasich has managed a tough balancing act. The next task will be to successfully defend his ideas from critics and prove himself to conservative voters before the primary election.
Contributed by Covey Son
More info:
The Atlantic: The Unpleasant Charisma of John Kasich
POLITICO: How Not to Win the GOP Nomination
POLITICO Magazine: Republicans Are Too Angry About Gay Marriage
Meet the Press: John Kasich Talks Debates, Trump Effect
The Columbus Dispatch: Ohio Politics Now: Kasich Talks Social Security, Climate Change
