Monday, February 15, 1999
Kasich returning heads back to Ohio to start presidential bid
The Associated Press
WASHINGTON — Budget hawk Rep. John Kasich, saying he was “a little fresher” than other politicians, is joining the growing list of Republicans who have formally announced plans to seek the GOP presidential nomination next year.
Mr. Kasich, who is from the Columbus suburb of Westerville, said he would formally announce today in his home state that he is filing papers with the Federal Election Commission to set up an exploratory committee and would then travel to New Hampshire and Iowa to begin his uphill battle for the nomination.
The 46-year-old House Budget Committee chairman joins four other Republicans who have formed exploratory committees — Sen. John McCain of Arizona, former Vice President Dan Quayle, conser vative activist and Newport native Gary Bauer and former Secretary of Education Lamar Alexander.
Two other Republicans con sidered front-runners for the GOP nomination, Texas Gov. George W. Bush and former Red Cross President Elizabeth Dole, have yet to announce their intentions.
Mr. Kasich, now in his ninth term in the House, has built a reputation as a tenacious supporter of smaller government and lower taxes. In the interests of balancing the budget, he has at times differed with his party's leadership, such as in opposing the building of B-2 bombers and his advocacy of closing big business' tax loopholes.
“I'm a different kind of politician, particularly in my party,” Mr. Kasich said on NBC's Meet the Press.
Mr. Kasich characterized himself as a mailman's son who grew up in a blue-collar community near Pittsburgh and “got into politics because I wanted to change the world.”
He said that since 1952, the year he was born, there has been a Nixon, Bush or Dole on every GOP ticket except in 1964, and it's time for a change in the Republican party. “They're like Pepsi and Coke,” he said. “Everybody knows their names.”
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