Ohio governor John Kasich spoke to conservative Republicans at the Shady Canyon Golf Club in California last week. One of several Presidential candidates in the 2016 race, Kasich needs a distinction to stand out from the crowd.
But what will work with voters? The old rules don’t seem to apply this year, “as voters angrily send a message that they’re tired of politics and politicians as usual.” David Lightman writes, “Kasich is held back by the very quality that endears him so to the insider political community: his resume.”
Mark Meckler, President of Citizens for Self-Governance, described one reason Kasich’s attitude might deter grassroots voters: “The base is looking for a candidate capable of attacking Democrats.” And Kasich has a record of working with them.
His practical message cast himself as a “conservative who seeks solutions and will work with anyone to find them.”
Is this what voters want, or will it make “grassroots conservatives seethe” as Lightman claims? We will see soon enough if his numbers get a boost in the polls.