Ohio Gov. John Kasich and former Vice President Joe Biden are speaking together tomorrow in Delaware. As WKSU’s M.L. Schultze reports, it’s leading to more talk about Kasich as the GOP’s bipartisan counter to President Trump.
The joint appearance called “As We Stand Divided” is sold out. It’s to focus on how to bridge political and partisan divides in Washington.
Both men have been discussed as potential 2020 presidential candidates. Biden came close to entering the Democratic race in 2016. Kasich was the last Republican to drop out last year and never embraced Trump at the top of his party’s ticket. He’s continued his harsh criticism of the president on issues ranging from immigration to health care to gerrymandering. Kasich also has worked with Democratic Colorado Gov. John Hickenlooper on how to stabilize the health insurance system.
All of that has led to his dwindling popularity among the conservative base of the Ohio Republican Party. At a forum earlier this month with fundamentalist Christians, most of the roughly 500 people attending indicated they had a less-than-favorable view of Kasich.