Governor John Kasich has one trump card left, and that's his own state, Ohio. Otherwise, we all know this guy is dead in the water. However, his win in his own state is not enough to disrupt the runaway Donald Trump Train to the nomination in Cleveland this summer.
However, it seems he's itching for a supporting role in the Presidential nomination process: VP. But who's to blame for his settling for second fiddle? Kasich claims that it's the media's fault.
STEPHANOPOULOUS: You're the experienced guy; you're the guy that can make the system work. Donald Trump, Ted Cruz are promising to shake the system up. And they're the ones getting the votes.
KASICH: Well, George, I've shaken the system up more than anybody who's on that stage. As you know, I've never been establishment. You know how many toes I had to step on to get the budget balanced in Washington, to reform the Pentagon and take on Defense contractors, what I've done in Ohio. I'm not an establishment guy.
The problem is you guys didn't give me any coverage. For six months, I wallowed at 1 percent in the polls.
Why? Because I'm not name-calling.
(CROSSTALK)
STEPHANOPOULOUS: I've had you on my show from the very first day you announced --
KASICH: George, I'm not just -- I'm not -- look, I'm not just talking about. You know -- look, you want to look at the numbers?
You want to look at the amount of coverage people get when they name-call as compared to the discussion about policy and who can run the country?
That's --
STEPHANOPOULOUS: Fair point.
KASICH: -- indisputable. You know that.
So here's the situation. Look, I'm going to be competing up north. The calendar worked in the south. It didn't work great for me. We never worried about that.
Our strategy was always to survive and get to the north. And now we're getting to the north. And forget that Marist Poll. I don't know who took it. I don't know what it's all about. If I thought that was true, I would tell you we're not doing better. We are doing better.
Kasich could very well be attractive to the Trump campaign, especially in the ever-so-important state of Ohio in the General Election come November. Nate Silver's fivethirtyeight predicts:
According to our latest polls-plus forecast, John Kasich has a 44% chance of winning the Ohio primary.
But this of course omits the entire minority community, that the Republican autopsy recommends the party not leave out of their strategy. Oh well, maybe some other election year, I guess. It's not as if the country is becoming less of a white majority or anything.
