The day after he filed his paperwork to officially run for re-election, Governor John Kasich spoke to a group of newspaper professionals in Columbus yesterday. The former Lehman Brothers executive and former Fox News commentator says he would eventually like to return to the media and plans to write another book. Kasich also discussed possible friction among Republicans and the Tea Party. Ohio Public Radio's Andy Chow reports.
Governor John Kasich will not face a Tea Party challenger in the May primary, though Tea Party groups had tried to come up with a team to run against him – largely because of their opposition to Medicaid expansion. But the governor told the Ohio Newspaper Association that he and Tea Party members share many of the same concerns, such as the national debt.
Kasich: “I don’t sort of look at Republicans and say ‘are you wearing a Tea Party shirt’ or whatever—they’re just part of our party. They’re part of a—and not just part of our Party—I don’t think the Tea Party is just connected to Republicans. You don’t—anybody’s who’s concerned about the growth of government—the effectiveness of government—the spending of government.”
Kasich then discussed his faith saying that society, in his lifetime, has been gradually creating rules to take the place of a personal guidance system based on values and responsibility.