Kasich looks for a chance with a positive spin

CONCORD, N.H. — For the past couple of weeks Andrew Krick and five other volunteers have been sleeping on air mattresses at the headquarters of the John Kasich’s campaign here. Together with dozens of others citizens from Ohio, they’ve come to try to keep alive the possibilities of their governor in the Republican race for the presidential nomination.

In front of more than 250 people at Concord High School, Kasich celebrated his 102nd Town Hall in the state, in which he’s been regularly polling in the top three. After finishing eighth in Iowa and with low numbers in the rest of the country, the campaign knows that its only hope rests with the voters of New Hampshire.

“I have found great clarity here in New Hampshire, because I’ve been struggling with this thought for years, and I’ve finally figured it out,” the candidate told the crowd.

“I think many of us just feel lonely. We don’t know where to go. There’s no one around to celebrate our victories and sometimes there’s nobody around to sit and cry with us. Don’t we want that back in our country?” he asked, before telling his personal story of losing both his parents in a car accident.

The crowd cheered when one supporter thanked him for leading a positive campaign. “Why don’t we take all the negative ads and tell the people what we want to do?” the candidate proposed, in line with the feel-good mood in the room.

Kasich is fighting for the so-called “establishment lane” in the Republican primary, against former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush, New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie and Florida Sen. Marco Rubio, but his message is also critical of the party.

“Partisanship gets in the way of any simple solution. You are an American before you are a Republican,” he said, adding that Republicans are good at being against things, but not so good in proposing things.

When talking about policy, the governor of Ohio focuses on his experience at reaching bipartisan agreements, dismissing “excessive” regulations and cutting taxes.

He criticized the Affordable Care Act, but said that “never again a pre-existing condition can disqualify a person from getting health insurance.” And although he said he would defund Planned Parenthood, he reassured an undecided female voter that health care for women would receive attention during his administration.

For Krick and his friends, it’s Kasich’s experience at balancing budgets that motivated them to come to New Hampshire. “I believe in a balanced budget. I know he’s done it before and I believe he can do it again,” said Krick.

Another supporter, Gillian Bennett, a senior at Concord High School, said she was attracted by the candidate’s “kind heart.”

“He’s trustworthy, he’s not running negative campaigns, he represents the new modern Republican Party very well,” she said.

She knows many young people are attracted to candidates like Bernie Sanders, but said that if they listened to Kasich’s plan, they would give him their votes.

Beyond the optimistic environment in Concord, and even with the possibility of a positive result in New Hampshire, the chances of a nomination look grim for the Kasich campaign.

“I think third-place for Kasich [in the primary] is very nice but it goes nowhere. I think it is second place that could give him some leverage,” said “Meet the Press” host Chuck Todd on Sunday.

He added, though, that Republican New Hampshire voters are the most liberal Republicans in the country and moderate candidates can do little after leaving the state.

“I think he may be on the ticket, he probably should be on the ticket [as a vice president], but the calendar and the map make it very hard for Kasich. I think what happens in New Hampshire with moderate Republicans, stays in New Hampshire,” he said.