Posted on 04/06/2016 11:38:44 AM PDT by Kaslin
There was an old "Saturday Night Live" fake movie trailer narrated by horror movie veteran Christopher Lee. John Belushi played a houseguest who couldn't take a hint from a couple that just wanted to go to bed. The husband tells Belushi, "Look, I don't want to be rude, but my wife is VERY tired!" Belushi responds by picking up the TV Guide and saying dismissively, "Yeah. ... Hey, there's a good movie on tonight! I think I'll call up some friends and watch it over here!"
Then came Lee's creepy voiceover: "It came without warning! They were just being POLITE! They didn't realize that they'd be stuck with ... "The Thing That Wouldn't Leave"!
John Kasich is this election season's The Thing That Wouldn't Leave.
After investing everything in New Hampshire, Kasich came in second, doing worse than Jon Huntsman had in his race-ending performance in 2012. Kasich's response? He didn't just declare victory, he proclaimed, "Tonight, the light overcame the darkness."
Since then, Kasich has lost some 30 contests and won one -- in his home state of Ohio. But still, he just won't go.
It's not just that Kasich can't take a hint, it's that he appears to be living in a kind of fantasy world, largely defined by three myths or delusions.
The first is the most endearing. Kasich has the best resume of the remaining candidates. Heck, he arguably had the best resume of the entire 2016 field, if by "best" you mean the longest and deepest government experience. He's not delusional about that.
What he is confused about is the idea that a lot of people care that he was, say, the chairman of the House Budget Committee two decades ago. According to legend, a supporter once shouted at Adlai Stevenson, "Governor Stevenson, all thinking people are for you!" Stevenson shot back, "That's not enough. I need a majority!" Even if Kasich is right that his resume makes him the best qualified to be president -- a debatable proposition -- the simple fact is that after nearly three dozen contests, relatively few voters agree with him.
Ah, but what about the delegates? If it's a contested convention and neither Donald Trump nor Ted Cruz has enough delegates to lock up the nomination, won't they turn to Kasich?
Not necessarily. But don't tell that to the Ohio governor, who goes from interview to interview insisting that he'd be the natural choice for the convention. Why would he be? Well, that answer varies.
Kasich's most frequently stated reason is that delegates will choose him because he beats Hillary Clinton in the polls. And it's true that Kasich does marginally better than Cruz in hypothetical matchups against Clinton -- and a lot better than Trump.
Left unanswered is why the delegates -- many of them loyal to Trump and Cruz -- would gamely back The Thing That Wouldn't Leave. After the second or third round of voting, delegates are free to cast their ballots for whomever they want. There's little evidence that they'd want Kasich, and they'd be under no obligation to vote for him over, say, Paul Ryan or Marco Rubio -- or, for that matter, Rush Limbaugh or Shaquille O'Neal. Indeed, for many delegates it would seem either unfair or downright crazy to skip over bigger vote-getters and back Kasich just because he won his home state of Ohio.
Of course, what that leaves out is the fact that Kasich is running as a hopeful, positive, uplifting champion of light over darkness. That brings us to yet another Kasich delusion, and this one is shared by many of his backers as well. Call it the myth of Kasich the hugger.
In South Carolina, a college student asked the Ohio governor for one of his supposedly famous hugs. It wasn't until later that we learned the huggee worked for the hugger's super PAC. More to the point, Kasich is simply not the touchy-feely guy he's pretending to be or perhaps thinks he is.
The man is famously irascible, pugnacious and sanctimonious. He's prone to defending his policies, such as his expansion of Medicaid under Obamacare in Ohio, by insinuating that he cares more about his eternal soul than his critics. A lot of people talk about how unlikeable Cruz is. Well, I've met both men, and I'd much rather have a beer with Cruz.
Maybe Kasich's denial stems from the fact that he's never lost a race and can't contemplate failing this time. I really have no idea. All I know is that it's time for him to go.
John Kasich: The Candidate Who Wouldn’t Leave
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Why should he leave? His game plan is to stick around and see if he can win after the two “real” candidates knock each other out in Cleveland.
what do you expect, he has george soros backing him to the tune of almost $700,000.00
Jonah Goldberg - The NRO Hack That Won’t Shut Up
Kasich is there to make sure Cruz doesn’t win, just like Cruz is there to make sure Trump doesn’t win. GOP-E plan for a brokered convention giving us a Ryan-Rubio ticket.
Out of all the “viable” candidates, Kasich is the one who I have utter distaste for. He does indeed come across as a smug, sanctimonious, navel-gazing, self-righteous jerk. IOW, a Democrat.
If Mr. RINO gun grabber gets handed the nomination, I will not vote for him. I don’t like communism, so I would vote for Trump or Cruz against Hillary. But Kasich is just Hillary anyway, so why bother? I’m not (especially) ashamed to say that I voted for McCain and Romney, but if the ruling elites want to shove this gun grabbing socialist down my throat, they’ve got another thing coming.
Buckeyes are calling the shots somehow and covet the attention.
Kasich is the only adult in the room of current candidates.
The Mailman’s son is beating Cruz by 10 points in NY
Kasich looks like Gary Shandling and I didn’t like Gary Shandling. Plus his support for the AWB automatically rules him out.
If the Convention decides to go outside the top two (which I fervently hope they do not) why should they limit themselves to Kasich? Or why should the fact that he's in it at the end even matter at all? He could drop out, and still be considered if they go outside the top two.
He's my governor, and he's basically not doing his job while chasing a pure fantasy.
But he’s an annoying, sanctimonious, not-conservative adult. If the convention goes outside the top two, there are about 5 other people that would be better choices than him.
How utterly sad. What a depressing comment.
The fact that it’s true is all the more pitiful.
-PJ
He is being paid to stay in to keep Trump from winning. I believe his votes would go to Trump. I think Trump would have won WI if Kasich had not been in there. I am still firmly convinced that the only hope the country has of surviving is Trump with all his flaws. So if he loses it’s hello hillary. Makes voting a waste of time, so I won’t. I can’t stand the lier and he has NO chance of beating the pant suit.
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