COLUMBUS – Before a crowd of supporters at his alma mater, Ohio Gov. John Kasich announced that he would seek the Republican nomination for president.
Kasich told the crowd, amid chants of “Run, John, run,” that he has the skills and the experience to handle the presidency.
During his speech to a crowded Ohio Union on the OSU campus, he said he has the skills and experience, and has undergone the “testing” to take on the White House.
He vowed to “take the lessons of the heartland to straighten out Washington, D.C.”
He touted his experience in Congress and promised to reduce the federal deficit and reform the military and called for more “personal responsibility and personal resilience.”
Kasich enters a GOP field already crowded with 15 other candidates and faces the challenge of elevating his visibility in the next few weeks. Only the top 10 candidates in the polls will be included in the first Republican debate, in Cleveland on Aug. 6.
While some say Kasich waited too long to announce his bid, others say his timing is perfect.
“Every candidate that has announced has seen a five- to six-point bump in their poll numbers the weeks after they announce,” Republican political analyst Mike Gonidakis said. “The national media focuses on the candidate that announces last. Those who are first sometimes finish last and those who are last sometimes finish first.”
A recent survey of several polls showed Kasich in 12th place.
Protesters, as well as supporters, lined the sidewalks and campus walkways outside the Ohio Union before the event.
Before Kasich had even taken the stage, the national Democratic Party released its reaction to the announcement.
“Kasich has cut taxes for the wealthy while placing stress on local governments to clean up his messes. He’s cut almost $2 billion in education funding and signed some of the most restrictive women’s health laws in the country,” said Democratic National Committee Chair Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D-FL). “We’ve seen John Kasich’s pro-John Kasich policies in action, and we deserve better.”
Ohio Democrats repeatedly tweeted messages that, under Kasich’s leadership, Ohio’s economic recovery has lagged that of other states, that his policies have been harmful to education and that he has tried to weaken public employee unions.