Gov. John Kasich became the 16th candidate to join the race for the Republican presidential nomination, with an appearance before 2,000 supporters at the Ohio State University’s Ohio Union. He brought a message of creating jobs, balancing the federal budget and maintaining fiscal stability, which he feels can impress voters in Iowa and New Hampshire. Kasich joins a very crowded field of GOP hopefuls and needs to start getting better polling numbers in order to be eligible for the first Republican presidential debate which will be in Cleveland next month. And Kasich's celebration did not go unchallenged, as a group of about 100 protesters lined up across the street from the Ohio Union, including education and abortion rights advocates.
Last week Karen Kasler talked about Kasich’s long-expected presidential campaign launch with two political experts – Dr. Paul Beck, Distinguished Professor of Social and Behavioral Sciences at Ohio State University, and Dr. David Niven, Assistant Professor in the Department of Political Science at the University of Cincinnati.
It’s going to be an uphill battle for Kasich who has been polling in the lower single digits. The most recent poll from The Washington Post and ABC News Kasich was tracking him at 2%.