Kasich Is In. Whoop.
Winning a state depends on more than association
Everyone relax. We’re saved. Republican candidate No. 16: Ohio governor John Kasich is in. As the sole candidate from a must-win swing state, Kasich is likely to make waves. And, of course, he has credentials — executive experience as governor, legislative experience as an 18-year member of the House — and a promising approval rating (hovering around 60 percent). But what he brings to the table policy – or personality – wise is, well, less clear. He is notorious among many conservatives for expanding Medicaid, he has proposed a tax on fracking, he has said he is open to a pathway to citizenship for illegal immigrants. And he is known, too, for his short temper, recently vented against . . . health-care wonk Avik Roy.
But if winning conservatives is not your plan, then Kasich is looking good. I’ll leave the wrap-up here to Allahpundit:
Every national primary needs Huntsman figure who’ll sneer at conservatives and at whom conservatives will sneer right back. That’s Kasich. They share a common strategy, betting everything on a surprise win in New Hampshire, and they have at least three key advisors in common, including noted tea-party enemy John Weaver. Kasich, in fact, has been more combative with his right-wing detractors than Huntsman ever was, despite the latter’s reputation. They’re peas in a pod.
Ask President Huntsman how well that strategy worked. DLH
Presidential candidates who have lost their “home” (native/adopted) states.
Via May 25, 2012 National Journal
- Al Gore lost Tennessee in 2000
- George McGovern lost his home state of South Dakota in 1972
- Adlai Stevenson, as sitting governor lost Illinois in 1952 and again in 1956
- Thomas Dewey, Governor of New York, lost the state in 1944
- Herbert Hoover lost his adopted home state of California, in 1932.
- Governor Al Smith of New York lost his home state in 1928.
- Governor of New Jersey Woodrow Wilson won the election despite losing the state in 1916
We add that Mitt Romney, a former Governor of Massachusetts, did not carry the state in 2012. Neither did he carry Michigan, where he grew up and his father was governor.
R Mall
