Editorial

John Kasich at the bat

"I just like his honesty. I think he's speaking out, and even if I don't agree all the time, at least he's saying something."

--Ohio resident Margo Bishop, 77, who might have paid the best compliment to a politician this year.

This is more like it. One more serious story about the Republicans as they prepare to nominate a presidential candidate. Nothing here about pooh-poohing American heroes or giving out rivals' cell phone numbers. In this heat, any such story comes as a relief.

Some of us wanted John Kasich to run for president long before now. For years he was the voice on the Sunday morning programs that actually made sense. A man who could talk policy without droning. Who sounded like a human being, not some apparatchik spouting the cliché/barb/talking point of the day. No wonder Bob Dole thought long and hard about putting him on the ticket back in '96. (If he had, Senator Dole might have carried Ohio, for all the good it would have done him.)

Elected to the U.S. House of Representatives in Ronald Reagan's first term, John Kasich worked his way up through the congressional ranks, election after election, until he was chairman of the House Budget Committee in 1997. That was back when Congress could actually pass a balanced budget. Imagine that. (And you'd have to imagine that, because you might not see it again for a long while.) John Kasich also chaired the committee that reworked welfare back in those days, folding in those employment requirements that have worked so well. Not to mention those 18 years serving on the House Armed Services Committee.

Budget work. Check.

National security bona fides. Check.

When he became governor of Ohio in 2011--presto--budget shortfalls became surpluses. Without taxpayers having to pony up more cash.

John Kasich is a supporter of merit pay for teachers and charter schools for kids. Unlike others in the 2016 race, he hasn't ruled out a path to citizenship for those in this country who don't have their papers in order. His friends say he believes helping "people in the shadows" is a calling, a moral imperative. Call it compassionate conservatism.

Executive experience. Check.

They say John Kasich's style is off-the-cuff. That's politicalspeak for somebody who doesn't rely on a TelePrompTer at town hall meetings. His friends say he can be . . . blunt. But blunt is fine, sometimes even preferred, if you're not insulting. (cc: the rest of the field, Republican and Democratic.)

It remains to be seen, though, if Mr. Kasich can be heard with all the crashing and banging coming from a few of the sillier campaigns, one in particular. For that matter, it remains to be seen if any serious candidate on the Republican side can get his (or her) message out with so much attention on that reality TV star.

Here's hoping sooner rather than later, when name recognition isn't driving the polls, but ideas are, that John Kasich takes his place where he's belonged for so long: In serious contention. With the emphasis on serious.

Editorial on 07/28/2015

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