Thursday, July 15, 1999
Trailing in race, Kasich calls it quits
Congressman endorses GOP leader Bush
BY HOWARD WILKINSON
The Cincinnati Enquirer
COLUMBUS — Five months of frenetic but ultimately fruitless campaigning for the GOP presidential nomination ended Wednesday for Ohioan John Kasich.
The 47-year-old Westerville congressman had been testing the waters since February in repeated trips to Iowa and New Hampshire, but ended up short on the two essential commodities necessary for any successful campaign — money and good poll numbers.
Mr. Kasich, in press conferences Wednesday in Columbus and Washington, dropped out of the race and endorsed the candidacy of the GOP contender who has plenty of both — Texas Gov. George W. Bush, who joined Mr. Kasich at the Washington event.
Mr. Kasich said he was glad he made the effort and did not rule out another try.
“I had a terrific response from the people I met in Iowa and New Hampshire,” he said. “But what they told me was, "We love you, but it's not your time.'”
No re-election either
The nine-term congressman, who chairs the House Budget Committee, abandoned more than his presidential campaign Wednesday — he reiterated his earlier pledge not to run for re-election in Ohio's 12th Congressional District.
Mr. Kasich said he has no idea what he is going to do besides finish out his term and campaign for Mr. Bush and congressional Republicans.
“Believe me, I'm not worried about it,” he said. “I believe it is possible to do large public service without holding public office.”
But Mr. Kasich, with his early withdrawal and endorsement of Mr. Bush, is likely to be on a long list of possible running mates should the Texas governor win the GOP nomination. Many Republicans in Ohio and Washington believe he would, at the very least, be in line for a high-profile cabinet job in a Bush administration.
Mr. Kasich talked to Mr. Bush over the weekend but didn't discuss his future in a Bush administration.
“All I said was I would help him get elected,” Mr. Kasich said. “It would be so far from an appropriate thing to talk about anything else at this point.”
In Washington Wednesday, Mr. Bush hinted that he might like to have the Ohioan in his administration.
“John is a breath of fresh air in politics,” Mr. Bush said.
When Mr. Kasich was asked by Washington reporters if he would possibly be interested in running as Mr. Bush's vice president or in a future job in a Bush administration, the Texas governor stepped in and answered for him, “Of course he would.”
Fatherhood calls Whatever happens, the Ohio congressman's life is about to change. His wife, Karen, joined him at the podium in Columbus and announced she is due to have their first child in February.
Maybe her husband will “end up being a stay-at-home dad,” she said.
“Hey, I never thought of that,” Mr. Kasich said. “Maybe I'll stay home and bake bread, be like John Lennon.”
Mr. Kasich said he had no hesitation in endorsing Mr. Bush, “a philosophical soul-mate.”
“This business of "compassionate conservatism,'” Mr. Kasich said, referring to the Bush campaign theme, “I wish I'd thought it up.”
Even if he had, he would still have found himself in the position in which most of the remaining nine GOP challengers find themselves — far behind in the polls and swamped in fund-raising by a Bush campaign that has raised at least $36 million.
By the end of June, the Kasich campaign had raised about $3.1 million from nearly 4,000 contributors nationwide.
Mr. Kasich's campaign had endorsements from several of his fellow Ohio GOP congressmen, along with both U.S. senators, Mike DeWine and George Voinovich.
Wednesday, Ohio House Speaker JoAnn Davidson, one of the earliest Ohio GOP figures to endorse Mr. Kasich, said she was “sad to see him go.”
“This is somebody we really need on the national scene,” Mrs. Davidson said. “He'll be back.”
Mr. Kasich will make “farewell tours” of Iowa and New Hampshire over the next two weekends to thank supporters.
Paul Barton of the Enquirer Washington bureau contributed to this report.
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