Gov. Kasich Should Have Been Elected President

Although Kasich flamed out in the Republican primaries--as far as I'm concerned--he would have made a much better president then the one we have now.

Sunday, October 15, 2017
Ohio Gov. John Kasich (R) joined Meet the Press
I'm certain many on today's right would label him a RINO after seeing this. There's two things to keep in mind however.

(1) In the last presidential election Donald Trump received 46.1% of the popular votes, Hillary 48.2%. Meaning--whoever ended up elected shouldn't ignore half of this country's views. This would be true if either ended up in office. By ignoring half the country it's little wonder why so little is getting done. Call Kasich a RINO if you will but it's the president's job to represent everyone even those who didn't vote for them. Being the reasonable kind of person Kasich is he recognizes this fact.

(2) Kasich may not be quite as liberal as you think. How do we know this? Because Kasich (unlike Trump) has a political record we can examine. One which doesn't look exactly liberal as Democrats would see it. Wikipedia--Political Positions And Record
*** Abortion--Kasich is a "firm abortion opponent" and describes himself as pro-life. He says abortions should only be performed in cases of rape, incest, and when the mother's life is in danger.

*** Climate change, energy, and environment--In a speech in April 2012, Kasich acknowledged that climate change is real and is a problem. In the same speech, however, Kasich said that the Environmental Protection Agency should not regulate carbon emissions and that instead states and private companies should be in charge of regulating coal-fired power plant emissions.

*** Kasich formerly supported fracking in Ohio state parks and forests, signing legislation in mid-2011 authorizing him to appoint a five-member commission to oversee the leasing of mineral rights on state land to the highest bidder... Kasich is a supporter of the Keystone XL oil pipeline project

*** Executive clemency--He has the lowest clemency rate of any Ohio governor since at least the 1980s, when records began to be kept.

*** State budgets and taxation--During Kasich's tenure, the state has eliminated a budget shortfall that his administration has estimated at $8 billion,.. Ohio also increased its "rainy day fund" from effectively zero to more than $2 billion... Kasich "closed the budget shortfall in part by cutting aid to local governments, forcing some of them to raise their own taxes or cut services... Kasich signed a state budget in 2011 which eliminated the state's estate tax effective January 1, 2013.

*** Labor Issues--On March 31, 2011, in his first year as governor, Kasich signed into law Senate Bill 5, a controversial labor law which restricted collective bargaining rights of public employees, such as police officers, firefighters, and teachers. The legislation, championed by Kasich, prohibited all public employees from striking and restricted their ability to negotiate health care and pension benefits

*** Education--During Kasich's tenure as governor, he pushed to expand charter schools, increase the number of school vouchers that use public money to pay for tuition at private schools, implement a "merit pay" scheme for teachers, and evaluate teachers by student standardized test scores in math and reading

*** Foreign and defense policy--Kasich opposed the landmark 2015 international nuclear agreement with Iran, and in September 2015 was one of fourteen Republican governors who sent a letter to President Obama stating "that we intend to ensure that the various state-level sanctions [against Iran] that are now in effect remain in effect," despite the agreement

*** Immigration and refugees--In 2010, while running for governor, Kasich expressed support for amending the U.S. Constitution to abolish the Fourteenth Amendment's guarantee of jus soli (birthright) citizenship for people born in the United States.
YE GADS--HOW MUCH MORE REPUBLICAN DO YOU WANT THIS GUY TO BE !
Yet he was (and still is being) resoundingly rejected by today's right for service in Washington

Of course I don't agree with many of his policies and others I haven't listed because many of my views stand in opposite. Even so if the election would have came down to either Hillary or John I wouldn't have hesitated for a second to cast my vote for him.

The reason?
I believe he's totally honest and forthright. Well spoken. Respectful to opposing views. Greatly informed and has a good head on his shoulders. Something Hillary doesn't have and most certainly Donald Trump least of all never will.