Kasich’s New Hampshire trip will create buzz
JDarrel Rowland
ohn Kasich's return to New Hampshire this week is likely to get widespread media coverage as a significant milestone toward what many view as his inevitable 2020 presidential campaign.
Within the past month, the state that traditionally hosts the nation's first presidential primary already has had visits from President Donald Trump, Vice President Mike Pence and Arizona Sen. Jeff Flake — all potential GOP rivals for Ohio's governor.
"Certainly the parade is beginning — but no one is watching it yet," said Andrew Smith, a former Ohioan who is a political science professor at the University of New Hampshire. "They’re coming up here now to work with political activists and line up people for their campaign."
Kasich's "fireside chat” Tuesday evening at a college near the state capital of Concord is his only public event, spokesman Chris Schrimpf said. But there will be opportunities to reconnect with the network that propelled him to a secondplace finish behind Trump in 2016, as well as connect with new potential supporters disgruntled with Trump.
He likely won't find many, despite New Hampshire's reputation for fierce independence, Smith said.
"I don’t think there’s any strong demand just yet for anyone other than Trump."
Smith, who also runs the university's survey center, pointed to a recent poll that showed 60 percent favored Trump's re-election, 18 percent wanted someone else and 23 percent weren't sure. Those are roughly the same percentages former President Barack Obama got in a similar New Hampshire poll at the same point in his initial term.
And Kasich's prospects of mounting an independent bid for the White House? "Extremely difficult," the professor replied. Facts trip Trump
Our public affairs reporting intern, Bennett Leckrone of Ohio University, noticed that while Trump was speaking Thursday about his infrastructure plan in Richfield, Ohio, he claimed it was difficult to get funding to fix schools in Ohio.
“We spent $ 7 trillion in the Middle East,” Trump said. “We’d build a school, they’d blow it up … but if we want a school in Ohio to fix the windows, you can’t get the money.”
Actually, according to the Ohio Facilities Construction Commission, which oversees school construction projects in the state, millions of dollars are available for school construction in Ohio. In fact, Ohio schools were allocated more than $ 423 million by the state for 2018, according to the commission.
That number will increase by more than 7 percent to more than $ 453 million in 2019, the analysis says. Tiberi successors
With a glut of candidates lining up for a rare opening in Ohio's sprawling 12th Congressional District to succeed former GOP Rep. Pat Tiberi, how can voters learn about those asking for their support?
Here are two opportunities: • Saturday at 1 p.m., a two-hour debate/forum sponsored by Ohio United 4 America at Ohio Wesleyan Hamilton-Williams Campus Center, 40 Rowland Ave. in Delaware, will be moderated by Scott Light of WBNS-10TV.
• On April 12, League of Women Voters chapters in metropolitan Columbus and Delaware and Licking counties, as well as the Franklin County Consortium for Good Government, will host a twohour forum at the Delaware Area Career Center's north campus, 1610 Route 521 outside Delaware. The event starts at 7 p.m., preceded by a meet-and-greet at 6:30.