Wednesday, October 28, 2015
By Marc Kovac
COLUMBUS
An angry John Kasich called out the policy proposals of other GOP presidential hopefuls Tuesday in some of his strongest criticism to date of leading Republican candidates.
The governor told an audience at a send-off in his suburban Columbus hometown, in advance of the third GOP presidential debate, that he was “fed up” and “sick and tired of listening to this nonsense,” vowing to “tell it like it is.”
“I’m done with the being polite and listening to this nonsense,” the governor said. “And it’s time we educate the American people about the consequences of very bad choices.”
He added, “Why don’t we grow up? Why don’t we get a reality check on what the heck needs to be done in this country?”
The short rally took place at a city park in Westerville, the same location where Kasich launched his gubernatorial campaign five years ago.
The event included comments of support from Lt. Gov. Mary Taylor and Republican Attorney General Mike DeWine, both of whom have been mentioned as potential gubernatorial candidates in 2018.
But Kasich was the focus, as he prepared to leave Ohio for Colorado for the prime-time debate, set for today at 8 p.m.
Earlier in the week, Kasich told reporters at a separate event he was pleased with his presidential campaign, with its focus on New Hampshire and other early primary states. He said he wasn’t approaching the third debate any differently than the first two.
“I thought the first debate was really good, and the second debate was a demolition derby,” he said. “We’ll see whether this is one of substance or whether it’s one of bombast. These personal attacks and all that stuff in the second debate was boring.”
Kasich focused his criticism on policy positions in the GOP presidential field without naming names.
He slammed a proposed flat tax and a potential dismantling of Medicare and Medicaid, both ideas that have been connected to retired neurosurgeon Ben Carson.
He didn’t mince words on proposals to deport illegal immigrants or on who should take credit for Ford Motor Co.’s Ohio expansion, both direct hits at billionaire businessman Donald Trump.
“We’ve got one candidate that actually said that the reason why we signed an agreement with Ford to bring jobs back from Mexico is because he’s been yelling for the last week,” Kasich said.