John Kasich Embodies Joe Biden’s Worst Instincts
Despite his reputation, Kasich isn’t ‘nice’ — or moderate — and his relationship with Biden validates progressives’ worst fears
If it were possible to gather all of Joe Biden’s worst instincts together into one person, you’d wind up with John Kasich.
Kasich, the former governor of Ohio, is Biden’s Republican daemon — the avatar of the “reasonable conservative” that Biden, who sees himself as a reasonable centrist, keeps pledging to accommodate when he’s in the White House. Kasich gained prominence in 2016, during his own failed presidential bid, as the face of anti-Trump conservatives; he condemned Trump’s crude manner and aggressive tactics, and publicly declined the offer to be Trump’s VP. His quaint personal style — a polite, mild-mannered, paternal type who was so shocked by cuss words that he tried to get Fargo banned from his local Blockbuster — led outlets like Vox and FiveThirtyEight to deem him “the anti-Trump.” There were rumors that he would mount his own independent presidential run in 2020.
That never happened. Instead, John Kasich joined forces with Biden, and has been a mild-mannered, sweater-wearing barnacle on the side of the Democratic Party ever since. Kasich spoke at the Democratic National Convention…
