It looks like President Donald Trump might have a Republican challenger in 2020 in the form of Ohio Governor John Kasich. Maybe. Kasich told NBC’s Meet the Press on Sunday he’s already got one endorsement: his wife.
Chuck, I don’t know what I’m going to do tomorrow. You know, I will tell you this. The other day, with all the chaos going on, my wife said to me one morning, she said, “You know, John, I wish you were president.” That’s how I knew the country was in trouble.
I suppose it’s a teeny bit better than someone waking up and saying, “You know…I wish I were president,” but that depends on your point of view. It also means Kasich probably is thinking about running in 2020 because most politicians cite their spouses on whether a run for office is worth it.
Of course, the biggest questions for those who care about a Kasich 2020 run is which party. He’s a Republican but has been hinting at leaving the party over Trump. Again, via Meet the Press:
So my view is everybody ought to have a chance to rise. That’s the party I grew up in. And if people want to yell and complain and criticize, I don’t pay any attention to that. We’re doing the right things, ’cause the people, the state believe we’re heading in the right direction…I never give up, Chuck. You know, I’m optimistic that I can move the party, you know, in a direction that will be positive and we’re doing it here. And in fact, just because there’s some activists that scream and yell, whatever, that’s not where the bulk of the people are.
Meh.
Kasich is another example of a politician who went into office promising one thing and left doing something else. His expansion of Medicaid in Ohio, plus signing a texting-while-driving ban, and his affinity for intervening in every conflict possible (instead of every third conflict like Trump) won’t fly with people who believe in freedom and liberty. Whether he even gets a “coalition ticket” with Colorado Governor John Hickenlooper is questionable but still something he appears to be trying to make happen. He’s still making appearances on TV and speaking at various different conferences like Fortune’s CEO conference in September. His website also looks like someone who’s planning at 2020 run.
Will it work? Probably not, even though Kasich has his supporters. The Economist has long been a fan of Kasich, suggesting he’s not as moderate as he appears (despite the entire Medical expansion deal), and praised him for having his reputation intact after the 2016 primary. My father probably wrote in Kasich’s name in the box last November and might happily vote for him again.
The Kasich-Hickenlooper “unity” ticket would have to get past the entire two-party system to begin with, forcing its way onto all 50 ballots and figuring out a way to make it into the presidential debates. They’d also have to coax typical Republican and Democrat donors to give them money for ad time and do a humongous blitz on all TV and radio stations across the country.
What about joining the Democrats and trying to win that primary? Yeah, right. The Democrats are just as split as Republicans are, if not worse, because their reputation is just as bad as the GOP’s. Bernie Sanders had a legitimate shot at winning the nomination, except for the fact that party bosses wanted Hillary Clinton to get her shot and either win or go away. There’s also the fact that a lot of Americans are tired by the Republican and Democratic parties just seeming to be extension of each other. Sure they fight over certain issues, mainly social issues, but they also seem to be perfectly happy with sapping tax money from people, increasing government spending, then running back to constituents and saying, “I fight for you!” The “coalition ticket” of Kasich-Hickenlooper would basically be “more of the same,” proving why Trump is president and why Sanders had a good shot at getting the Democratic nomination.
So, Kasich’s most likely avenue is attempting to go through the GOP electoral system, and probably failing. Unless, of course, Trump doesn’t make it through his current term and Mike Pence is the GOP candidate in 2020. Then it’s probably chaos again.
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