He got his clock cleaned in 2016, so sure, why not, maybe it’s time John Kasich embraced his inner Democrat.
Kasich, the Republican governor of Ohio, has made several runs for the White House, all dismal failures. So next time, Kasich is reportedly mulling a “unity ticket” with a Democrat — Colorado Gov. John Hickenlooper — to try to knock Trump out of office.
“The Johns,” as insiders are calling them, “have been making a flurry of joint appearances to talk about state-driven improvements to health care,” Axios reported.
Under the unity ticket, the pair would run as independents with Kasich at the top of the ticket, a source told CNN.
“The idea of a joint ticket has been discussed, but not at an organizational or planning level,” said the source, who spoke only on the condition of anonymity. “What they are trying to show the country is that honorable people can disagree, but you can still problem solve together. It happens in businesses and it happens in families. Why can’t it happen in Washington?”
In early August, Hickenlooper didn’t lend much credence to rumblings of a unity ticket, telling Politico: “I don’t think Kasich would ever do that. … I don’t think it’s in the cards. But I do like the idea of working with him in some context at some point.”
Kasich and Hickenlooper are working together on major policy issues such as healthcare and immigration — a rare, bipartisan alliance at a time of deep seeded acrimony between the two political parties.
The next steps for the two governors will be more policy than politically focused.
“Watch on the policy front as they expand beyond healthcare and also include other governors into the coalition,” said the source.
Democrats are without a real leader — or message, for that matter — after getting crushed in 2016. No clear frontrunner has emerged to run against Trump, and Democrats are beginning to worry that they won’t be ready.
Into that vacuum could step a unity ticket that might make a pitch to both sides — including disaffected Republicans — to move past partisan politics and put the needs of Americans first. As a “veteran operative” told CNN: “Our political system is completely broken. Something big and historic needs to happen to break the logjam. I’m a big Dem but I’m for anything that … does away with this hyper-partisanship on both sides that is paralyzing our government.”
Kasich is already a moderate Republican, to say the least. Kasich all but embraced amnesty and mostly opposed a crackdown on immigration. He was also somewhat supportive of Obamacare exchanges before eventually opposing them.
One thing in his corner, though: He despises Trump. And that alone could make him a darling of the Democrats. He held a town hall earlier this year with failed Democratic candidate Sen. Bernie Sanders in which he said “I don’t like people that say ‘I told you so…'” — and then said he told us all so.