Posted on 01/29/2016 1:29:17 PM PST by SeekAndFind
Feel free to believe that there is a glimmer of hope for Ohio Gov. John Kasich's bid for the Republican presidential nomination. If that gives you comfort or plays to your own preferences, be my guest. I certainly wouldn't want to make you uncomfortable.
But even if you believe that, try also to understand that Kasich's campaign is done. You can stick a fork in it. He will not be the GOP nominee for president in 2016. Recent endorsements from two New England newspapers prove that.
Kasich continues to plug away in New Hampshire, hoping that lightning will strike and he surprises onlookers by finishing ahead of the other pragmatic candidates in the GOP primary.
I suppose his standing in the January 17-23 New Hampshire NBC News/Wall Street Journal/Marist Republican primary poll, which found him bunched with Marco Rubio and Ted Cruz and fighting for second place, could give his supporters a false sense of optimism.
But with Rubio pulling away from the pack in Iowa to establish himself as an alternative to Donald Trump and Cruz, Kasich has a ridiculously uphill struggle. Even if Kasich surprises in the Granite State and finishes ahead of Rubio there, the Ohio governor simply has not shown the appeal – or put together the campaign elsewhere – that he would need to become a true contender in the Republican race.
Kasich may be correct that name recognition remains a big problem, but his bigger problem is that he continues to be the favorite Republican candidate of Democrats, liberals and members of the media.
Earlier this week, the Boston Globe endorsed Kasich, praising him as "pragmatic" and calling him a "moderate conservative." The next day, the Concord Monitor, not exactly an icon of conservative editorial policy, endorsed him. And two days later, Roll Call columnist Walter Shapiro also had very kind words for Kasich.
That is the same Kasich who drew high marks from New York Times columnist Frank Bruni and Washington Post columnist E.J. Dionne earlier in the cycle.
The fact that Kasich has drawn compliments or endorsements from these observers guarantees that he cannot be nominated by the Republican Party this year. They don't reflect the GOP electorate, and they aren't looking for the kind of nominee – the kind of president – that most Republicans would prefer.
Who did the Globe and the Monitor endorse in 2012, you might very well be wondering? Both newspapers endorsed Jon Huntsman, the least conservative Republican candidate in the race. Huntsman put all his eggs in the New Hampshire basket and finished third in the GOP primary. He dropped out of the race after the primary.
As I have written at least as far back as 2007, endorsements from politicians and newspapers are not very significant in high profile races, and you don't get any more high profile than a presidential contest. Voters in Iowa and New Hampshire, in particular, see so much of the candidates that they can make their own judgments. They don't need some editorial writer or columnist to tell them who they should support.
The endorsements by the Globe, the Monitor and a handful of liberal columnists are not going to kill Kasich's candidacy. They merely reflect why his prospects in the race have always been regarded as so poor. To win the Republican nomination, a candidate needs to appeal to Republicans.
When the dust clears we'll find out that Bush isn't running for president so much as setting up some kind of expensive art project for one of his grandkids.
The Monitor??? ROTFLMAOPIMP! Concord...a nowhere sh*thole draped in SEIU purple...where the 'Bernie! 2016' signs nearly outnumber the ticks. This soviet rag endorses the mailman's boy? OMG...LOL!
RE: VeeP? NO.
I won;t be surprised if Trump chooses either Kasich OR Rubio to be his running mate should he win the nomination.
ARE YOU KIDDING!?
John Kasich is in his own lane!
And his daddy was a mailmang, mang!
We all ought to consider ourselves damn lucky that he is even running.
You will miss him when he’s gone, that I can tell you!
It’s over for the Mailman’s Son.
Wasn’t Kasich “surging” just last week?
“That is the same Kasich who drew high marks from New York Times columnist Frank Bruni and Washington Post columnist E.J. Dionne earlier in the cycle.”
Oh, now there’s a couple of “endorsements” we all hope to get! John Kasich needed to go away months ago.
“Wasn’t Kasich “surging†just last week?”
Pay no attention to the media men “behind the curtain!” They’re just there trying to stir up one more political cat fight so they can make another buck!
I do not believe this. I was told on this very site that he would crush the opposition. he would wipe the floors with trump in Ohio.
He is the son-of-a-mail-man? I hadn't heard that!
And then the two ineligible candidates should drop out.
I'll miss him like a boil on my fanny,
Just didn’t have the chops for it. (karate)
The GOP need’s Ohio’s electoral votes. What are the chances he’ll end up as VP?
I hope zero!!! He didn’t deliver in 2012 when there was rampantvoter fraud up by the northern border..
Watch for a Rubio endorsement Tuesday.
NO CHANCE NO WAY VP!!!Trump will do fine on his own in the rust belt states he might need help in the south!!!
He should change his name to Postmanson and go back to Wall Street.
John Kerry served in Viet Nam, you know.
John Kasich is the son of a mailman.....
Exactly. Rubio was born to two foreign nationals. He thinks because Obama got away with usurpation, that gives him a free pass. If Trump picks that little Cuban turd I'll vote third party.
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