Governor John Kasich “Very Likely” To Run For President In 2016

In a leak from a reliable source over the weekend, it is believe that Ohio Governor John Kasich is “very likely” to run for president, but cautioned there would be nothing definitive for at least a few weeks.

In late April, Kasich made a round of appearances in Washington including at the New America Foundation’s annual conference where he said, “If I can win, I’m likely to run.”

On Sunday, the source close to Kasich, a former congressman who is serving his second term as governor, said that fundraising was still an issue for any possible candidacy. Even so, sources close to Kasich have been sending out positive signals.

Not surprisingly, Kasich has recently ramped up his pre-presidential activities, making media appearances, spending time in South Carolina and New Hampshire, and establishing a so-called 527 political committee. That advocacy group “New Day for America” allows him to raise funds and provides a litmus test of financial support for any eventual run.

In an April interview on CNN’s Sunday show “State of the Union,” Kasich said at least one of his possible competitors Hillary Clinton could win his key battleground state of Ohio.

“Of course she could win. I think anybody on those lists are capable. It’s just a matter of how they project themselves,” Kasich said. “She’ll be a very formidable candidate.”

He declined to address specifics about the current controversy surrounding Clinton and the funding of the Clinton Foundation saying, “When you are involved in both public and private, you have to be very careful.”

Kasich acknowledged his past time spent working for Lehman Brothers before its collapse, could be a factor in his own candidacy. But he freely criticized the industry that used to employ him.

“I’ve said all along that I think there’s too much greed on Wall Street,” Kasich said last month. “The reason I say it is because I saw it. The fact is, there’s nothing wrong with making money. There’s a lot of good. But you can’t just be totally dedicated to making money without, you know, sort of doing some good in the process.”

Back in front of the New America audience, Kasich acknowledged being seen as a presidential contender had at least one advantage.

“One good thing about thinking of running for President is that I get invited to stuff like this, where I can talk about what I care about. If I wasn’t doing this, I’d probably be serving the meal.”

Kasich Takes Major Step Towards Presidential Run

Ohio Gov. John Kasich took a major step toward running for president Monday, as a nonprofit to help him fund travels to explore a presidential bid registered with the IRS, the Cincinnati Enquirer reported. The nonprofit, called New Day for America, was set up last week, and the IRS registration allows it to start raising unlimited amounts of money, according to the Columbus Disptach.

Kasich was one of 19 possible GOP candidates who appeared Saturday in New Hampshire to address the state Republican Party’s leadership summit. The same day, he visited South Carolina, another early primary state. But the Ohio governor and former congressman and Fox host told NBC’s “Meet the Press”that he was still not officially a candidate.

“I still haven’t decided,” Kasich told Chuck Todd. “I’m more and more serious, or I wouldn’t be doing these things. … The reason why I feel I should be in there is I’ve had foreign policy, national security experience. I was chairman of the Budget Committee, we actually balanced the budget, got results and the economy got better. As governor of the state, I inherited a total mess, and at the end of the day we’re running surpluses.”

Kasich was elected governor of Ohio in 2010 and was re-elected in 2014 by a more than 40-percentage-point margin in the key swing state, which led to inevitable presidential talk Republicans need to carry Ohio to have a realistic chance at winning the White House. Conservative on fiscal issues, Kasich has also been an advocate for the working poor and controversially supported the Medicaid expansion component of the Affordable Care Act.

As Kasich continues to test the waters for a presidential campaign, even Democrats have said he would be a formidable candidate.

“John Kasich presents an interesting option for Republicans. I think he’s somebody who very much marches to his own beat, and sometimes that ruffles Republican feathers, such as the Medicaid expansion,” Alan Melamed, an Ohio Democratic political strategist, earlier said, “If Gov. Kasich stays with some of the approaches here in Ohio, it may present a challenge, but I think that he offers an interesting alternative, and in this stage of the game, it’s kind of open to anything.”