George Graham

The Kasich Fantasy

Protesters, including Jessica Steuver, 25, (with green sign) and Jodie Gallagher, 20, (purple sign), gather beside the Ohio Union prior to the announcement that Gov. John Kasich is running for president on July 21, 2015. (Adam Cairns / The Columbus Dispatch)

Protesters, including Jessica Steuver, 25, (with green sign) and Jodie Gallagher, 20, (purple sign), gather beside the Ohio Union prior to the announcement that Gov. John Kasich is running for president on July 21, 2015. (Adam Cairns / The Columbus Dispatch)

First, I was shocked to find out that there are Republicans in New York. Who are these people, I wonder. Do they live in some exclusive Park Avenue penthouse, insulated from reality by a staff of illegal-immigrant servants? Do they get about in chauffeur-driven Rolls Royce limousines?

Next, I was shocked to find out that many of these folks believe John Kasich is the reasonable alternative to the deadly duo of Donald Trump and Ted Cruz.

John Kasich is just as nutty as Trump and almost as far right as Cruz, even though he makes less of a fuss about it.

Last night, Rachel Maddow aired a series of the patronizing remarks he has made about women. What I found most offensive was his story about female supporters “getting out of their kitchens” to stump for him.

If I were one of his female supporters, I would go back in my kitchen and stay there – barefoot and pregnant, I suppose .

In his amiable, grandfatherly way, Kasich stands for an America dominated by old, white men. And he obviously believes deprivation and suffering are good for people – the common people, anyway.

He is an austerity freak, a budget balancer with outdated and discredited economic ideas that would stop the Obama recovery in its tracks and send America spinning into another Great Recession.

And he is not just an antiquated paternalist who would force castor oil down your throat while smiling benignly and telling you it’s for your own good. He is also a father-knows-best “pro-lifer” who, as governor of Ohio, forced several abortion clinics out of his state.

If you want to find out what John Kasich is really like, you should ask the teachers, pro-choice activists and union members in Ohio. They’ve felt the sting of his far-right policies – personally (photo above).

So when you hear him talking about working across the aisle to get things done in Washington, that’s just a fantasy. No Democrat could possibly find common ground with this guy.

Behind his greeting-card sentimentality and folksy manner is the kind of steely hard-liner who told opponents in Ohio to “get on the bus or get run over by the bus.”

Reasonable? Not the real John Kasich!

About the author

gwgraeme

I am a Jamaican-born writer who has lived and worked in Canada and the United States. I live in Lakeland, Florida with my wife, Sandra, our three cats and two dogs. I like to play golf and enjoy our garden, even though it's a lot of work. Since retiring from newspaper reporting I've written a few books. I also write a monthly column for Jamaicans.com