I get that New Hampshire is not exactly a bastion of conservative thought. A Republican hasn’t held the state in the general election in almost 16 years.
I also get that John Kasich has not pretended to be anything like what is traditionally called a conservative. In fact, he claims to be some kind of “new” conservative which, if history is a guide for candidates successfully redefining an entire political ideology to suit their 3 month campaign, will be as successful as New Coke.
But perhaps I’ve been underestimating exactly how far to the left one must run to win the New Hampshire primary. Kasich seems to believe the best way to get the Republican victory up there is to just run as the Democrat.
When a voter at one of his town hall meetings said she (honestly) couldn’t decide between him and Democratic Socialist, Bernie Sanders, Kasich had this to say:
“Isn’t that interesting,” Kasich said as the crowd around her gasped. However, without mentioning his political allegiance or correcting the voter, Kasich went on to position himself as a good compromise between Sanders and Clinton saying, “One of them’s too hot, one of them’s too cold, but I’ve got the right temperature.”
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Well there you have it, folks. There’s no reason to guess anymore or crack jokes about how Kasich is the equivalent of running for the Democrat. According to the man himself, we’d find more of a conservative in Hillary Clinton.
If he wins New Hampshire tomorrow, or even places in the top 3, can we then stop pretending this state should have such an influence over our candidate selection?
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