Presidential candidate John Kasich touted his economic and defense credentials and called for greater efforts to help those “living in the shadows,” including the mentally ill, drug addicted, and displaced workers.
The Ohio governor told a crowd of 250 Republicans in Burlington Friday night, including several dozen local college students, that he believed “the Lord creates us for a purpose” and he said the country faces not only economic and national security challenges, but also in values and a decline in the strength of families and neighborhoods.
“We need to renew our spirit in this country, and we can’t do it when we’re fighting one other and fighting everybody else that just doesn’t think the way we do,’’ he said.
In his 40-minute speech, Kasich flexed his economic credentials as an Ohio Congressman for 18 years and then as governor of the key Midwestern swing state. Kasich said when he left Washington in 2001 – as chairman of the House Budget Committee, he was a key player in a 1997 breakthrough budget deal – there was a projected 10-year surplus of $5 trillion that quickly evaporated. In Ohio, he said as governor he turned an $8 billion deficit into a $2 billion surplus.
Kasich said if elected he would replicate the model he used in the Buckeye State to boost the US economy, including cutting corporate and personal taxes and streamlining regulations he said hurt businesses. He said almost 350,000 private sector jobs had been created in Ohio since he took office in 2011 and “hope has returned to our state.”
Raising taxes to balance the budget, Kasich said, makes no sense.
“I think pretty simply about things,” he said, “If I have a restaurant and I don’t have any customers, I’m not going to get customers by raising prices. What I have to do is I have to cut the prices, I have to change the menu and lower the overhead and shake it up.”
As a congressman, Kasich said he was also a leader in reforming military equipment purchases after being shown a $27,000 hammer and a $43,000 screwdriver. On national security, Kasich called on providing help to Ukrainians fighting the Russian government and a “no-fly zone” in Syria so refugees can flee safely. Taking a jab at President’s Obama lack of military action following the widely-believed use of chemical weapons by the Assad government in 2013, Kasich said: “When I draw a red line, I don’t walk away from it.”
Kasich also touched on several Ohio social programs and said it was a “disgrace” and “immoral” more mentally ill people are in American prisons than psychiatric facilities; he said Ohio has focused on treatment over incarceration with drug addicts.
Several Vermont Republican leaders described Kasich, 63, as more level-headed than others in the Republican field and praised his budget-balancing skills and compassionate approach to social problems. His presidential campaign web site posted a Chicago Tribune editorial on Tuesday that called Kasich “The Anti-Trump.”
Kasich, who hosted a show on Fox from 2001 to 2007, has hovered at around 3 percent support in national polls of Republican voters.
“He’s somewhat low-keyed,’’ said Lt. Gov. Phil Scott, who is running for governor and received a standing ovation when he introduced Kasich.
Scott told VTDigger: “I think that it’s difficult to break through when you have 17 (candidates) initially running. And he’s not as dynamic as some and doesn’t have again that name recognition, but I think he’s well thought of from other governors.”
Scott isn’t a fan of front-runner Donald Trump. “I’m not a big Trump supporter,” Scott said. “I don’t think we need an Entertainer-in-Chief. I think we need someone that can govern and actually lead and has integrity and treats people with respect.”
Former Lt. Gov. Brian Dubie, who also attended, applauded Kasich’s budget skills, his compassionate approach to crime issues, programs that are “not sound bites but solutions” and his work “bringing people together to solve problems.”
Kasich also told stories about his upbringing, growing up in a small town outside of Pittsburgh before he went to Ohio State University. He spoke of his parents, who were killed by a drunk driver in 1987 while pulling out of a Burger King, and his grandfather, a coal miner, died of black lung disease. He also told a humorous story of a meeting he secured as a college freshman with President Richard Nixon, a meeting that was supposed to last five minutes that he turned into 20. He poked former President Bill Clinton for being a hound for credit, saying “if he saw a riot coming, he’d get out in front and call it a parade.”
Republican Party chair David Sunderland had no estimate on how much the fundraising event would net. All proceeds, he said, would stay with the Vermont party. Some who attended paid extra to attend a private cocktail hour with Kasich before the dinner of chicken, mashed potatoes, carrots and chocolate cake.
Other Republican notables in attendance included Bruce Lisman, who is also running for governor; former state Sen Randy Brock, who is running for lieutenant governor, and Scott Milne, the 2014 Republican candidate for governor.
Earlier this year, Sen. Rand Paul spoke to Vermont Republicans. Sunderland said attracting presidential candidates was easier because New Hampshire, with the first primary after the Iowa caucuses, is next to Vermont.
A spokesperson for the national Democratic Party, Kaylie Hanson, said in a statement: “John Kasich is no moderate” whose “policies match those championed by the rest of the extreme GOP field.”
