HOUSTON – John Kasich is the last governor standing in the race for president and he hopes viewers of the final Republican presidential debate before next week’s Super Tuesday primaries see that executive experience matters.
At Thursday night’s debate, Kasich promised that if elected president he would “hit the ground running and we will get America moving again.”
Kasich is touting his own record of turning his state’s budget deficit into a surplus. Kasich says he did it not only through budget cuts as rival Donald Trump has proposed, but also through economic diversification.
During the debate, Kasich said that if elected president, he would bring to Washington a range of industries to spur economic growth and generate “jobs, jobs, jobs” within the first 100 days in office.
Trump pointed out that much of Kasich’s successes have been due to oil discoveries in his home state.
But Kasich defended his record, dismissing the idea that a single-industry can lead to economic growth.
“We’ve won awards in past years for our value-added performance… I’ll say one thing: We have the same great kids and the same great teachers. It’s really hard to see a swing in the data like we’ve seen and feel like that’s valid.”
The debate was a name-calling, insult-trading, finger-pointing affair that featured a tag-team attack on Trump by Marco Rubio and Ted Cruz. Both senators are battling for second place and are anxious to take down the front-runner before it’s too late to stop him.
Eleven states vote on Tuesday, including Cruz’s home state of Texas, and Rubio’s home of Florida, with 595 delegates at stake. Trump has three straight victories behind him, and momentum on his side.
His rivals know they have to change that dynamic to halt Trump’s march toward the nomination.
It is far from clear that Thursday’s debate did much to solve their basic conundrum. Trump and Rubio are struggling to emerge as the clear alternative to the front-runner as non-Trump voters divide their support among the alternatives.