Many sides of Ohio Governor John Kasich
Kasich is known for
his short fuse and unpredictable tantrums. During a Koch brothers
sponsored-conference, he raised his voice to Randy Kendrick, wife of Arizona
Diamondbacks owner Ken Kendrick who questioned him about his push for Medicaid
expansion. His rude response caused 20 people in the audience to walk out. Two
other governors on stage, Nikki Haley of SC and Bobby Jindal of LA told him
they disagreed with what he had said. Even famously fiery John McCain has
acknowledged Kasich’s temper.
·
He invoked religion
into his decision to accept the Medicaid expansion money offered under
Obamacare in 2013. He told a reporter, “Now, when you die and get to the
meeting with St. Peter, he’s probably not going to ask you much about what you
did about keeping government small. But he is going to ask you what you did for
the poor. You better have a good answer.”
·
He’s a former host of
a Fox News show. “From the Heartland with John Kasich” was on-air for six
years, premiering in 2001 after he left Congress. The show aired on Saturday
evenings and was broadcast from Columbus, Ohio.
·
Kasich began working in
2001 as a managing director at Lehman Brothers until the Wall Street firm
collapsed in 2008. He returned to politics in 2010 by beating the incumbent
Ohio Governor Ted Strickland by a two-point victory.
·
Already a religious man, his faith has grown since the late
1980s when his parents, two Democratic postal workers, were killed in
a car crash with a drunk driver while pulling out of a Burger King. A devoted
Catholic before having his faith wane in college, Kasich now attends an
Anglican church.
- After
pushing a bill to restrict collective bargaining rights for public workers
in 2011, Kasich backed off when
voters passed a referendum, 62 percent to 38 percent, to repeal the bill.
The legislation would have limited the rights of 350,000 public workers,
including police, teachers, and firefighters. His approval rating fell
into the low 30-percent range, but he accepted the defeat and looked for
other budget cuts.
- Kasich refuses to
use teleprompters, even for his State of the State addresses that can last
over an hour. Either he uses a written speech, a rough outline with
talking points, or he improvises the entire speech.
