John Kasich’s Moderate Stances? Too Little, Too Late

It’s been a fascinating transformation watching John Kasich go from ultimate party insider congressional chairman to rogue Tea Party-wave governor (he came in during the “I hate Obama” 2010 midterm tsunami of crazy) to “moderate.” Yes, I do think the quote marks are necessary for legal reasons.

Would Kasich be considered a moderate during the time of Eisenhower or even Nixon? Of course not, he’d barely pass the test during the not-too-distant time of 1990 when George H.W. Bush was still quasi-holdling on to something of the Eisenhower side of the party that could almost be called Populist Republicanism (I know, it left a weird taste in my mouth just typing it).

As Governor, Kasich has been fighting a silent war on Ohio’s abortion clinics, and shutting any of them down is quite a big deal in one of the 10 most populous states in America. He’s hit unions as much as any other Republican Governor and wholesale embraced Reaganomics yet he’s somehow managed to escape the scrutiny of a Scott Walker or Rick Scott (note to self: avoid any Governors with “Scott” even as a middle name). Trump keeps pointing out it’s because Ohio struck oil and Kasich has embraced fracking is the only reason his state hasn’t seen an economic downturn. For once, Trump may not be entirely wrong as Ohio’s economy can’t rest entirely on LeBron James’s shoulders and Kasich has been terrifyingly vocal about getting rid of EPA regulations. [“Yes, oil and gas masters, I would like another.”]

And even though Trump is no moderate, Kasich has disagreed with nearly all of “Big Don’s” more moderate stances like leaving social security alone, negotiating with Iran or Cuba, not letting “people die in the streets,” admitting that Planned Parenthood does anything besides an assembly line of abortions, or acting like Palestine even exists. So how is Kasich a moderate really? Well, besides his Pro-Hugs platform on the campaign trail, he’s also said token things about how senators should meet with Merrick Garland. Talk about the land where little people cast tall shadows.

We now live in a time when a Republican Presidential candidate simply saying Republican senators should do their job is labeled “moderate” by actual moderates and high treason by “conservatives,” who should perhaps be relabeled “The Party of Somalia” as they seemingly want government to grind to a halt. And Kasich’s strategy seems even more “too little, too late” since he wasn’t saying any of this back when it could have made a difference and the field was still actually trying to pick out a moderate to back. Back then, he was just another conservative in a field full of them, and now he’s waited until people aren’t really looking for anything else. His token “moderate” views seem designed for a general election it seems impossible he’ll actually be chosen to face.