Kasich is a real danger...

[ram2008]

Not much else to say, but I think his performance tonight was really good, especially his answer to the gay marriage question. He didn't really attack Obama too much, didn't come off as hateful and had a message that was somewhat uplifting and actually talked about caring for the poor and the needy. He was sharp, on message, authentic and came off very presidential compared to the other buffoons.

I really hope his answers were too liberal for Republicans to chew because if he starts rising in the polls he will be a big, big problem for the eventual nominee, be it Hillary, Bernie or O'Malley.

I think after that performance he's going to rise to about 10% nationally and up to around 2nd or 3rd in New Hampshire.

[geek tragedy]

1. Even appearing to care about the poor will doom him in the Republican primary.

Republican primary voters are vicious sociopaths

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

2. NOT seeming hateful will kill him with the GOP base.

[still_one]

3. yup. He is below the radar, and from a very important state to boot

[JCMach1]

4. Not as a Republican... he is about 90 degrees off the Republican base...

[Shoulders of Giants]

5. I do believe that Kasich would be the toughest Republican to beat.

He would almost certainly win Ohio in the general, considering he won the governorship with over 60%. He could take a few other midwestern swing states as well, making him a formidable candidate. Fortunately, he's probably not going to win the primary.

[madamesilverspurs]

6. First I remember hearing about him

(and it was a couple years ago, anyway) was a video showing him raging about a cop who DARED to give him a speeding ticket. He went on and on, totally pissed that HE had been ticketed. It was embarrassing to watch, haven't much cared for him since.

[icymist]

19. He looks a lot older since then

I know he thinks he's resonating with the voters of Ohio, but I can see right through him. Maybe because I'm from Ohio. ( I came from a divorced family; half in Ohio and half in Illinois, not that anybody cares)

[Boomerproud]

25. He's never resonated with THIS Ohio voter and he was my congresscritter for the godawfullnes long

time. The media adore him here, the regular folks, not so much. Would he win Ohio, probably-and he'd be a crappy Prez.

[irisblue]

39. me too!

The local paper is pushing big time for him. They are doing a fine job of covering up his crooked ways.

[C_U_L8R]

7. He'll be Bush's running mate.

[Jim Lane]

20. No, Bush as the nominee would pick a fairly conservative running mate.

He'd feel a need to throw a bone to that wing of the party. McCain and Romney were both perceived as "moderates" by the media and as "RINO"s by the base, and each picked a right-winger. I'd look for something like Bush-Pence.

Kasich would be a more likely running mate for someone like Cruz -- if Cruz were to get the nomination and if, having gotten it, he proved able to set aside ideological zealotry and think about practical politics. Both of those are pretty big ifs.

[herding cats]

8. He would be if he were running for a Democratic seat...

However, the Republican's really don't support reasonable, non attack minded people anymore. I mean, sure some do, but their base they pander to is really whacked out and driven by fear and hate, the rest or their majority only still vote for the person with the R behind their name because they're brainwashed to believe they have a shot at being in the 1% someday.

[pnwmom]

9. I agree. He had a strong answer to the gay marriage question, which humanized him

and set him apart from the others.

[AlinPA]

26. Yes, in such a way that the GOP voters will reject his humanized stance. He's toast after that

statement.

[stevenleser]

10. Agreed. I am most concerned about him in the general. Not sure he can pull out the nom though so

we hopefully wont have to worry about it.

[southerncrone]

11. The most moderate of the bunch.

(Not too hard to accomplish)
When I saw his announcement speech, I told my husband he was our biggest threat because he's the most moderate.
Slid in late after all the others had shot themselves in the foot.
We'll have to wait & see; it's a long time until the primary.

[tblue37]

14. Remember Huntsman last time? He was the first to have to drop out--but could have been the biggest

threat in the general if he could have gotten the nomination.

[southerncrone]

15. True. I admit

I just can't think like a Republican. Thankfully!

[pamela]

12. He's the one that scares me the most in the general.

I think his appeal to the moderates would be hard to beat. He'll never make it past the primaries, though. Way too sane and reasonable for the base.

[tblue37]

13. He will never get past the yahoo gatekeepers that vote in the primary. nt

[ProudToBeBlueInRhody]

16. IF he got to the general election

Everything you said are negatives to Rethug primary voters.

[Tommy_Carcetti]

17. Except he won't get by the GOP base gatekeepers.

No way he sniffs the nomination.

The GOP base doesn't do relatively sane, and they hold all the cards.

[Gothmog]

18. Kasich is the one GOP candidate who scares me

[vankuria]

21. You can't be moderate, sane or even reasonable

with this GOP crowd, I can't see him winning the primary.

[Jim Lane]

22. Toldja so

In February I asked, in this DU poll, "Which Republican would be the toughest opponent in 2016?" Only two of us, 5% of the voters, picked Kasich.

As for his chances of getting the nomination: It's true that the base dislikes him, but they also disliked McCain and Romney. In 2008 and 2012, the "RINO" beat out the conservatives, in part because Republicans wanted a winner and feared that any of the conservatives would come across as too extreme.

One question for 2016 is whether the GOP establishment will be able to run that play again. Twice now, the supposedly more electable moderate has nevertheless lost. There may be more Republicans willing to listen to the pitch that a militant ideological pitch is the way to go.

[sub.theory]

23. Got my attention now

I didn't think anything at all about Kasich until last night, but I didn't know anything either. Wow, he could be a serious threat. His defense of the poor and expanding Medicaid. His advice to let it go about gay marriage opposition. I was shocked to hear such common sense and reason from a Republican. All I could think of though was how dangerous he could be to run against. He could have serious moderate and independent appeal. Plus Ohio. I don't want to sow defeatism - he could be beaten. But it would be a tough fight. Fortunately, I don't think the GOP are smart enough to nominate him. They'll choose one of the troglodytes.

[AlinPA]

29. Yep, he is not going win with that humanized approach. Hatred for the poor and intolerance wins

the GOP primaries.

[Person 2713]

37. I actually imagined them last night sneering at his comments in their living rooms

Haters gotta hate and he is not hating enough
No . Did he jump in numbers today after the debate? Any stats

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

33. Remember how dumb ol' Rick Perry got booed last time around

when he defended a Texas law allowing the children of undocumented immigrants to pay in-state college tuition? The GOP base hates any government action that benefits people who aren't rich and white. If Kasich wants to help the poor and expand Medicaid he's toast.

[MFrohike]

24. Um, what?

Kasich is Jon Huntsman. The big boys are Trump, Rubio, Bush, and Walker.

[liberal N proud]

27. Think about this; he is governor of Ohio

The Republicans need Ohio to win.

If he is not the nominee, he will be on the ticket.

Then we have to worry about election fraud here in Ohio. It is easy to hide if the governor is on the ticket.

[Dawson Leery]

28. Convicted Felon Tim Allen (and Kasich supporter) to use sitcom to slander Hillary Clinton

http://newsbusters.org/blogs/nb/tim-graham/2015/08/05/tim-allen-announces-were-going-drill-hillary-his-sitcom-will-abc

With that said, he may be the VP, but getting the nomination will be difficult for him. The GOP base is dwindling in size and diversity.

Walker is still the consensus candidate.

[DCBob]

30. Conservatives cant stand him because he supported Obamacare Medicaid expansion in Ohio.

They will never forgive him for that.

[Jim Lane]

34. The nominee last time was the guy who signed the Obamacare predecessor into law.

We on DU focus on the Republican crazies because they're so entertaining, but they don't necessarily have total control of the party. I would love to see Trump-Palin or Cruz-Carson as the ticket but I don't think we'll be that fortunate.

[3catwoman3]

31. He is the only one who does not...

...come across as a total flaming anal orifice.

[peace13]

36. Yet...he is one!

Do not be fooled!

[djean111]

32. I did not really like his answer. It sounded to me like he was saying the equivalent of

hate the sin, love the sinner, that he would love his daughter "even though" she was gay. He was at a gay wedding because it was his friends and he loved them, not because he thought it was all right.

[peace13]

35. Be afraid...

...he has done his deed on Ohio yet the voters are too simple to know the extent of the damage. He has balanced the budget on the backs of communities which in turn puts the burden back on the people. Schools are a shambles and the proceeds to alcohol sales were hijacked to a private organization that does not report to the State of Ohio. How is this legal ? Lake Erie is a muck of Blue Green Algae which is toxic and lethal to dogs and children. Legislation that was in place to be voted on when he took office was deemed as unnecessary as it was a few bad apples polluting and we don't legislate for that! This man is a wrecking ball and should not be underestimated. He is a Tea bagger with a Teflon jacket!

[ericson00]

38. if Kasich were a little bit younger, he'd be the GOP version of Bill Clinton

and we could be screwed. But then again, it might take MORE time for the GOP to do for their party what Clinton did for ours because they're still in denial not just over Obama, but over the elections since 1992 (think Perot myth, despite a lack of empirical data for it, and the one-for-six popular vote record that we had from 1968-1988). Same with Christie.

If both of them truly wanted to be president, they'd have waited 2016 out like Bill Clinton waited 1988 out after pondering it.

[irisblue]

40. from Camille Paglia 8/7/15

I don't agree with her on many things, but her observation of Kasich rings true. I think he's running for VP or maybe for POTUS in 2020.

John Kasich

Buoyed by the crowd's enthusiastic support of his tenure as governor of Ohio, Kasich came on strong in the debate. His brusque, animated gestures are awkward but manlike in a solid, old-fashioned way. Kasich is a genuine populist with working-class family ties. He made the Princeton-educated Cruz look effete tonight. Kasich was full of specifics about his congressional experience on the armed services and budget committees. I think he won the debate. Kasich is a mensch in a party of parakeets

[ellie]

41. He's a weirdo

And the base won't like him because he expanded Medicaid in Ohio.

[davidpdx]

42. He did seem like the most moderate

But as others have stated, looks can be deceiving. I believe he barely made it into the top 10 and he's going to have to fight to stay there if the debates are limited to only some of the candidates. From what I heard Fiornia gave a good performance (emphasis on that last word), so she will probably move up in the polls. The question is who will drop after this. I think Walker and Paul are the most likely.

[DemocraticWing]

43. He's still an arrogant, homophobic elite who hates the working class

I guess he's the one wolf whose sheep costume is most convincing though

[sendero]

44. I think Kasich has zero chance...

... of being nominated. The Republican base has shown clearly what they favor, a loudmouth, no filter douchebag psychopath and Kasich is the exact opposite.

[taught_me_patience]

45. If he can make it out of the Republican primary

he would be the biggest threat to beat Hillary. He's got all the chops and comes off as the most moderate of the Republicans. He'd beat Bernie 49-1. Kasich, Walker, and Jeb are the top Republican contenders right now.

[hedgehog]

46. I think the fix is in to make him the candidate -

and he is a serious danger.