MOUNT PLEASANT, S.C. – Governor John Kasich spent time and money winning voters in Tuesday’s New Hampshire Republican presidential primary. Now he’s in next-to-vote South Carolina with a short supply of both.
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The Ohio governor finished second in New Hampshire’s primary, well behind celebrity businessman Donald Trump but well ahead of others. The results reflected Kasich’s singular focus on the state.
His task now is to introduce himself to voters in South Carolina and beyond and he is starting out with the same boots-on-the-ground retail strategy that worked in New Hampshire. He has seven events planned in the next three days in places like Pawley’s Island and Duke’s Bar-B-Que in Orangeburg.
He’ll have to keep his momentum going in spite of having a cash disadvantage. Jeb Bush began the year with triple as much campaign money, and Florida Sen. Marco Rubio four times as much.
Kasich, Bush and Rubio are seeking many of the same voters and donors.
Kasich has so far held fast to his positive message of bipartisanship and cooperation. He told a crowd Wednesday that, if elected, Republicans would call the tune but Democrats could join in “as long as they play on key.”
He says he knows the value of getting to know members of the other party to get things done, and has the scars to prove it. Speaking at a South Carolina business, Kasich said he has a scar on his forehead from a Democrat who head-butted him during a game of basketball.