Kasich is facing tough road ahead in next primaries

MOUNT PLEASANT, S. C. — Republican presidential contender John Kasich spent time and money winning over New Hampshire voters.

He came to next- to- vote South Carolina on Wednesday with a short supply of both.

“You don’t know me,” Kasich told people in Mount Pleasant, a suburb of Charleston. “So I guess I’ve got to go back to the beginning.”

The Ohio governor finished second in New Hampshire’s primary, well behind Donald Trump but well ahead of others. That reflected Kasich’s singular focus on the state.

By contrast, his campaign — which has far less cash than any of his closest competitors — has spent nothing on advertising in South Carolina, and the outside groups backing him have put out barely anything. The South Carolina GOP primary is Feb. 20.

That compares with the many millions that Jeb Bush, Marco Rubio and Ted Cruz, along with their allies, invested in TV and radio commercials. In recent days, a super PAC boosting Bush put an additional $ 1.7 million into its South Carolina ad plan. Even Trump, a master of free publicity, is spending $ 1.2 million on paid ads.

South Carolina is not Kasich’s only blind spot.

His all- in New Hampshire strategy also meant little attention to Nevada, the state that votes after South Carolina, or to most of the dozen states that hold March 1 contests.

“We don’t have to win everything,” said Kasich’s senior adviser, Tom Rath. “What we need to do is win enough to keep us alive, which I think we absolutely can do.”

Kasich has spent little time in the state and has fewer employees and volunteers compared with the others.

And the pressure is on. Bush is hoping to parlay his family’s long history in South Carolina, as well as his endorsement by Sen. Lindsey Graham, into a spot ahead of Kasich and Rubio, at least. At a rally in Spartanburg, Rubio called the state “definitive and determinative.”

Kasich plans to break from South Carolina politicking Monday to visit Michigan, which votes March 8. He sees the potential to do well in that state, and he has a home- court advantage when Ohio votes March 15.

Still, given the steep climb in South Carolina and the next few states, Kasich must act quickly to convert his New Hampshire win into a cash wave. His $ 2.5 million in the bank at the beginning of the year was one- third as much as Bush had and onequarter of Rubio’s resources.