Kasich’s presidential bid may be too little, too late

After an inauspicious launch of his campaign for the Republican nomination for president, Ohio Gov. John Kasich seems to have found his stride and is attracting the attention of potential primary voters and the national media.

Indeed, if you tuned in Sunday to 21 WFMJ-TV for the ever popular NBC “Meet the Press” news talk show hosted by Chuck Todd, you would have seen a confident, knowledgeable and level-headed Kasich – a stark contrast to obnoxious billionaire Donald Trump, who is leading the field of 16 hopefuls.

In fact, the two-term governor of Ohio seemed to suggest Sunday that there are two categories of candidates: the adults and the children. And although Kasich steered clear of labeling his opponents, he was not shy about taking his shot.

In discussing his unwillingness to say just about anything to curry favor with the voters, Kasich noted that many contenders for president make “ridiculous” promises just to get elected and have no intention of keeping them once in office.

“It we’re running for these offices just to get elected, I mean, we’re not running for class president,” the governor told Todd. “We’re running to be commander-in-chief and the leader of the United States of America. Grow up.”

That statement undoubtedly will give Kasich’s campaign the traction it so desperately needs, but we wonder why he didn’t offer such hard-hitting one-liners when he formally announced his candidacy last week.

Kasich’s speech from the campus of Ohio State University, his alma mater, was delivered in his homespun style, but it lacked focus and specificity, especially with regard to the important issues of the day, such as immigration.

The speech was panned by political writers and columnists and became the subject of unflattering editorial cartoons.

Kasich and his campaign team have only themselves to blame. After Trump’s triumphant entry into the race – he dominated the headlines for days after he said that Mexican immigrants are drug traffickers and rapists – the media were looking for a similar hook in the governor’s speech.

TRUMP UPSTAGES KASICH

There wasn’t one, which made reporting on the announcement difficult. Indeed, the day after Kasich’s announcement, Trump still grabbed the headlines with other statements. He questioned the heroism of U.S. Sen. John McCain, who was a prisoner of war in Vietnam for several years and was tortured relentlessly, and Trump went after Sen. Lindsay Graham with a vengeance.

Though serious journalists and veteran political observers are dismissive of the real-estate tycoon from New York, his in-your-face attitude toward the other candidates and his eagerness to talk about his wealth have resonated with Republican voters.

Trump’s standing in the polls has surprised veteran politicos, and his participation in next Thursday’s debate promises to make the event in Cleveland even more successful than his reality TV show “The Apprentice.”

Fox News is hosting the debate and has said that only the top 10 candidates in the cumulative standing in the polls will be invited to participate.

As of this writing, Gov. Kasich won’t be participating in the debate. And that will only add to his difficulties of being in the spotlight regularly.

“Part of the reason I’m running is because I have the experience to know how to fix it [the federal government’s problems],” Kasich told NBC’s Todd. “And you can’t fix it with hot rhetoric, one party. It has to be, either we’re in this to fix America or we’re in this to get elected.”

The governor made it clear he does not intend to indulge in mindless political chatter just to grab headlines and is unwilling to make promises he could not keep if he were elected president.

Beyond the issue of not having the wind to his back when he launched his campaign, Kasich is far behind former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush and others when it comes to raising money.

In a crowded field, money is the difference maker. It gives a candidate the ability to get his or her message out to a very wide audience.

Kasich’s only hope is that several of the leading GOP candidates will be seen by the public as impetuous children and that Republican voters will come to the realization that the party’s only hope of winning the White House in 2016 is with an adult as the nominee.

If they do, Ohio Gov. Kasich would emerge as one of the front-runners.