Kasich: Ohio needs a change

By John w. Goodwin jr.

Kasich will make a final decision on his bid for governor later in the year.

NILES — Ex-U.S. Rep. John Kasich enthralled area Republicans with words about Republican values, his vision for the country and his plans to become governor.

Kasich was the keynote speaker at the Mahoning Valley McKinley Day Dinner at McKinley Memorial Library here Friday night. The annual observance of President William McKinley’s birthday is sponsored by the Mahoning Valley McKinley Club.

Introduced to the crowded room of spectators as the “next governor of the state of Ohio,” Kasich made it clear his eye is trained on the state’s top post.

“There is one thing I am interested in and one thing alone, and it’s the possibility of becoming the governor of the state of Ohio,” he said.

A final determination as to whether he will officially run for the office will be made later this year, he said, but he called on all those attending to support his quest, should he decide to seek the office.

Any attempt to become governor would be a long, hard fight against Democrats determined to maintain control in Ohio, and thus, of the presidency of the United States.

Kasich predicted harsh words from the opposition if he runs but detailed to his captive, cheering audience what he sees as the shortcomings of the current state leadership.

Under the current leadership, one in 10 Ohioans is receiving food stamps, while 111,600 Ohioans have become unemployed, he said. The number of recently unemployed Ohioans could fill the Ohio Stadium mentioned in the most recent State of the State Address, he added.

The state, according to Kasich, has a “broken business model,” and if allowed to continue on the same path, will have more residents depending on the government for basic needs than people in place to support the government.

Kasich said the focus in the state should be on things that will bring back jobs and increase personal responsibility, such as elimination of the “death tax,” ignoring politics and addressing the high state income tax, fighting for school vouchers and competition in education, and revitalization of manufacturing jobs while creating technological jobs as well.

He also spoke on the importance of the late President Ronald Reagan’s political views and the need for a renewed value system in the country.

“Honesty and integrity are something no one can ever take from you. ... Personal responsibility is a missing value today. We need to recapture the values of personal responsibility,” he said.

“Those are the values that I embrace and the values that you embrace.

Kasich, a native of McKees Rocks, Pa., serves as honorary chairman of Recharge Ohio (www.Recharge- Ohio.com), an organization dedicated to making Ohio’s future great again.

He also substitutes as host for “The O’Reilly Factor” on Fox News TV and is a contributor to other Fox News shows.

He graduated from Ohio State University and was elected to the Ohio senate at age 26 and to the U.S. House of Representatives in 1982 at age 30, representing Ohio’s 12th Congressional District.

jgoodwin@vindy.com