Ohio Gov. John Kasich becomes 16th Republican presidential candidate
Former Fox commentator, congressman known for plainspeaking manner, announces bid at Ohio State University
Ohio's John Kasich, a blunt governor who embraces conservative ideals but disdains the political sport of bashing Democratic frontrunner Hillary Clinton, became the 16th notable Republican to enter the 2016 presidential race Tuesday.
"I have the experience and the testing — the testing that shapes you and prepares you for the most important job in the world," he told a crowd of supporters at Ohio State University, where as a freshman political science major, he audaciously wrote a letter 45 years ago that landed him a 20-minute audience with President Richard Nixon.
Kasich (pronounced KAY'-sik) joins an unusually diverse Republican lineup — with two Hispanics, an African-American, one woman and several younger candidates alongside older white men such as Kasich, 63, and former Florida governor Jeb Bush, 62.
'Lessons of the heartland'
A veteran congressman as well as second-term governor, Kasich cited his experience with the federal budget, national security and his leadership of Ohio as reasons why he would make a strong president.
"We are going to take the lessons of the heartland and straighten out Washington, D.C.," he told an enthusiastic crowd.
Speaking in his signature unscripted way, Kasich addressed his supporters in a folksy, rambling manner, occasionally referring to notes but speaking without a Teleprompter.
He vowed to use his experience balancing budgets — in Washington as head of the House budget committee and in Ohio as governor — to restore "common sense" to Washington and "get rid of all the stupid rules."
He also said he would strengthen the country's military.
"National security climbs to the top of the heap [of priorities], because we must be strong," he said.
He expressed sympathy for those struggling to make ends meet in today's America, recalling the past struggles of his own family at a time when the American Dream was still within reach.
"There are a lot of people in America today who are not sure that American Dream is possible, that that American Dream is alive," he said. "I can understand their concern."
He made references to the importance of his faith and ended his speech by referring, in part, to the oft-quoted Bible verse, "Ye are the light of the world. A city that is set on an hill cannot be hid."
"America is that city, and you are that light," he told the crowd.
Sought nomination in 2000
Kasich entered politics in 1978, defeating an incumbent Democrat to become the youngest person elected to the Ohio Senate, at age 26. He was elected to Congress in 1983 and briefly sought the Republican presidential nomination in 2000 after he helped seal a federal balanced budget deal as House budget chairman in 1997.
Since then, he put in nearly a decade as an investment executive at Lehman Brothers and more than four years of strong-willed and often abrasive leadership as governor.
Kasich's unique personality sets him apart from his competitors.
The man who once figuratively told lobbyists to get on his bus or he'd run them over and who called a police officer an "idiot" helped erase a budget deficit projected at nearly $8 billion US when he entered office, boosted Ohio's rainy-day fund to a historic high and saw private-sector employment rebound to its post-recession level. He accomplished this through budget cutting, privatization of parts of Ohio's government and other, often business-style innovations.
Has held off on Clinton-bashing
Unions that turned back an effort by Kasich and fellow Republicans to limit public workers' collective bargaining rights say Kasich's successes have come at a cost to local governments and schools, and that new Ohio jobs lack the pay and benefits of the ones they replaced.
Kasich has demonstrated a willingness to buck his own party when practical. He departed from Republican orthodoxy to expand Medicaid in line with the federal health care law.
He's spent the year testing his scrappy political style around the country, for part of that time as chief spokesman for a national effort to pass a federal balanced-budget constitutional amendment. It remains to be seen how Kasich's risky habit of working without a script will play in the 24/7 hothouse of presidential politics.
He's largely lived up to that, at least so far. But when Clinton accused other GOP governors of trying to disenfranchise voters by limiting early ballots and requiring photo ID to vote, he grew exasperated. "What is she talking about?" Kasich asked. "Don't be running around the country dividing America."
'Normal person' but unorthodox politician
A fixture on Sunday talk shows and at one-time a Fox commentator, Kasich faces an immediate challenge to qualify for the first Republican debate. That faceoff takes place next month in his home-state city of Cleveland and only the top 10 candidates in national polling will be invited.
No Republican has won the White House without carrying Ohio.
Kasich was born in McKees Rocks, Pa., the son of a mail carrier and grandchild of Hungarian, Czech and Croatian immigrants. His parents were killed by a drunk driver in 1987.
At Ohio State, he wrote to Nixon praising his leadership and seeking a meeting that would be "a dream come true." Nixon obliged, and Kasich flew to Washington for a chat and handshake in the Oval Office.
"I'm a normal person," he told The Associated Press this year, "but that makes me unorthodox in politics."
With files from CBC News