John Kasich

I heard a story on Monday afternoon about Ohio governor John Kasich getting ready to enter the 2016 presidential race. In the story he was described as a centrist and I thought, great, I’d like to know more about a Republican centrist. Then Kasich announced yesterday and I heard part of his speech and I heard him talk about working and traveling and knowing Ronald Reagan. OK, so Reagan maybe wasn’t all bad on everything and maybe this guy picked up the good stuff. Keep listening. Then I hear him say that he wants to cut bureaucracy and strengthen services and I think great, strengthen services for the poor, the sick, the elderly, the homeless, Medicare, Medicaid and CHIP, veterans. Maybe this guy’s OK, I think, and then I find out he’s talking about different services because he goes on to say that while he’s a person who doesn’t like to spend a lot of money, “…national security climbs to the very top of the heap, because we must be strong, and we must assume our role as leaders of the world.” So much for the centrist Mr. Kasich. Why do we need to be leaders of the world and why can’t we demonstrate leadership by leading the way toward fixing the issues that need fixing right here at home? A strong military can be just as effective guarding our borders as trying to define the borders of others.