Last night in California, John Kasich worked very hard to steal Jeb Bush’s donors. The only donors he could possible steal after his performance are the suckers looking to be taken advantage of by swindlers. Kasich is running a Jon Huntsman campaign, complete with Jon Huntsman’s team. It is a race that tries to portray him as the grown up, sophisticated person in the room.

This is the “MSNBC deal waiting to happen” John Kasich who comforts the media circle of jerks and mega-donors of America that there are Republicans who, when they wear Jesus on their sleeve, do so in favor of bigger government. To get there, Kasich has hired John Weaver, a blast from the past, who, like Kasich, has rejected not just the conservative wing of the GOP, but all parts of the GOP not in favor of more expansive, debt riddled government and liberal social politics.

John Weaver made a name for himself in New Hampshire in 2000, helping [mc_name name=’Sen. John McCain (R-AZ)’ chamber=’senate’ mcid=’M000303′ ] beat George W. Bush in that primary. After McCain ultimately lost, Weaver took his football and went home, or at least left the GOP. As the Atlanta Journal-Constitution quoted him in 2002, “I don’t think it surprised one person in McCain-land,” he said. “I think they thought I was a Democrat all along.”

This is the man Jon Kasich has hired to run his “Republican” campaign.

Weaver worked for the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, the Association of Trial Lawyers, [mc_name name=’Sen. Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH)’ chamber=’senate’ mcid=’S001181′ ]’s campaign against John Sununu, and Dick Gephardt’s 2004 Presidential run. Weaver also thought Howard Dean was “very clever” back during Dean’s run for the Presidency and Weaver donated to Chuck Schumer and Jean Carnahan.

Having wandered in the land of Democratic losses throughout the early 2000’s, Weaver again joined [mc_name name=’Sen. John McCain (R-AZ)’ chamber=’senate’ mcid=’M000303′ ] in 2007, only to be forced out by Cindy McCain. He returned to lead John Huntsman to nowhere in 2012. In 2014, Weaver tried to help the liberal independent, Greg Orman, win [mc_name name=’Sen. Pat Roberts (R-KS)’ chamber=’senate’ mcid=’R000307′ ]’ Kansas Senate seat against the GOP.

In the Huntsman campaign, he was a source of division who was accused of attacking his own candidates after their campaigns fell apart.

Now he is running Kasich’s campaign and he’s running the same playbook as before. He and Kasich will run to the left, drip with condescension over the rest of the Republican field, play “dad” to the arguing children, and win heaping spoonfuls of praise from the media. Along the way, they will sucker donors out of dollars, lose the race, and get a great TV deal.

Kasich, in the debate last night, had few memorable lines. He relied on a twenty year old congressional record, going so far as to take credit for a balanced budget he had to be forced into working on. Kasich did not believe it possible and wanted nothing to do with it until it was forced on him by conservatives. Now he uses that and an old Fox News show as his street cred with conservatives.

As Ohio Governor, he expanded medicaid in the state and it is becoming a massive boondoggle for Ohio taxpayers.

For every Ohioan who has paid an Obamacare exchange premium, three have been added to Medicaid under Gov. John Kasich’s Obamacare expansion.

Kasich famously was blocked by the Ohio legislature from expanding Obamcare in his state, but then used his line item veto to get rid of the prohibition. Now he thinks legislatures should be listened to. He also thinks Jesus would demand every state expand Obamacare.

Kasich’s Jesus is a Jesus who believes Roe v. Wade is settled, so pro-lifers should give up. His Jesus believes that you should bake the cake for the gay wedding. And you should expand Obamacare or be held accountable to Jesus on judgment day.

And it’s not just Weaver who Kasich is surrounding himself with. As his campaign team shapes up, look at the type of people drawing near him.

• Kasich is also being advised by the man who championed David Souter and was pleased with what Souter did on the court.
• In Alabama, Kasich is being supported by that state’s governor, who has demanded massive tax hikes.
• In Georgia, Kasich is being supported by a Georgia Senate Majority Leader who pushed through a billion dollar tax increase and did his best to block religious liberty protections.
• Kasich is also backed by former Senator Trent Lott, a man currently best known for being vocally angry about conservatives daring to challenge Washington lobbyists.

Time and time again, Kasich has aligned himself with left-leaning consultants, strategists, and politicians who hold the Republican base in contempt, attack the conservative wing of the party, and declare for themselves some sort of small government, fisically responsible bona fides when they back policies and politicians who grow government and further indebt the American people.

Tax hikers, social liberals, and failures — those three groups make up the core support of Kasich’s base. He would really like to steal Jeb Bush’s donors, men and women who made their way in the world by being successful and fighting against the very sorts of tax hiking failures whispering in John Kasich’s ear.

This is all why, on the debate stage in Simi Valley, CA, last night, John Kasich had to rely on a twenty year old record in Washington to claim he was some sort of conservative.