Kasich backs DeWine on pre-existing conditions
THE AD: “It’s About People,” a 26-second, digital-only commercial from the gubernatorial campaign of Republican Mike DeWine.
WHERE TO SEE IT: Somewhere out there on the internet, perhaps in geocoded pop-up ads on phones and computers. The campaign would not say why the ad is not appearing on TV.
IMAGES: Outgoing Republican Gov. John Kasich addresses the camera, interspersed with images of DeWine.
SCRIPT: Kasich: “When someone’s sick, they shouldn’t have to live in the fear of bankruptcy. You know, we fought so millions of Ohioans who live with preexisting conditions — they aren’t left behind. And I am really proud of that. Mike DeWine promised me that he will protect those with pre-existing conditions. Mike knows the success we’ve had in Ohio by Kasich not leaving anyone behind. DeWine will work to make health care available and affordable. Because this isn’t about politics. It’s about people.”
ANALYSIS: A week shy of the election, Kasich finally goes to bat — or is allowed to go to bat — for DeWine, but on a minor level because it does not involve statewide TV. The attorney general has had to navigate a fine GOP line in his race for the governor’s office against Democrat Richard Cordray. DeWine is working to keep the support of President Donald Trump’s base while also attempting to appeal to the Republicans and independents in Kasich’s corner. Kasich, a prominent critic of Trump, balked at endorsing DeWine until the candidate made an election-year conversion in favor of keeping the governor’s expansion of Medicaid health care to the working poor.
If you don’t believe DeWine when he says he supports keeping protections that ensure insurance coverage for Ohioans with preexisting coverage, the ad asks you to believe Kasich, at least, when he says “Mike DeWine promised me ...”
The spot attempts to blunt Cordray’s ongoing attacks on DeWine over his 2011 action as attorney general to sue in an unsuccessful bid to overturn the Affordable Care Act, including its guarantee of pre-existing coverage and its allowance for Medicaid expansion. Regardless, DeWine now says he always has supported the pre-existing mandate.
The DeWine campaign also released “Forward,” the first TV ad of the cycle in which he speaks to the camera. It is a positive spot that sells DeWine as a problemsolver and a fighter for Ohio families. It is entirely subjective and therefore cannot be fact-checked.
Cordray, meanwhile, went up on TV with “Just Want,” a commercial that stresses he will stand up to Trump when needed while claiming that DeWine will always support Trump “no matter what.” It also is entirely subjective and therefore cannot be fact-checked.