Kasich closes gap with Clinton

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It seems air time is helping Gov. John Kasich in more than just his re-election bid.

Kasich is now Ohio voters’ favorite to take on Hillary Clinton in the 2016 presidential contest, the latest Quinnipiac Poll shows.

But while he is the top GOP contender, he still trails Clinton by 5 points, according to the Connecticut university’s poll.

Kasich’s GOP ascendancy is likely a result of his campaign spending about $1 million in advertising for his re-election, said Peter A. Brown, assistant director of the Quinnipiac Poll.

“Television matters. It has the ability to move numbers,” Brown said.

The Republican Governors Association also has two television ads to support Kasich, with the latest launched yesterday.

“It would be naive to think that the ads from the gubernatorial campaign haven’t had an effect on these numbers. If voters start seeing commercials that try to make them feel good (about) John Kasich’s re-election, a side benefit is How Hillary Clinton fares against a field of potential GOP contenders for the 2016 presidential race: that he may look better to them as a possible presidential candidate,” Brown said.

But Kasich has said repeatedly that he is not focused on 2016. The Kasich campaign does not comment on public polls.

As in the university’s February presidential poll, Clinton beats all GOP contenders. But this time around Kasich has taken over the spot from U.S. Rep. Paul Ryan of Wisconsin as

over Gov. John Kasich

over U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio of Florida the top challenger to the former secretary of state and first lady, and the margin is smaller.

The poll also shows that President Barack Obama’s job approval remains in a rut, with a 39 percent approval rating, compared to a 40 percent score three months ago.

“Although (Obama) is not on the ballot this November, such a consistently low rating can’t be helpful to the Democratic ticket, especially gubernatorial

over New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie

over U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas nominee Ed Fitzgerald, who currently trails Gov. Kasich 50 to 35 percent and is somewhat of an unknown to Ohio voters,” Brown said.

The telephone pollinvolved land lines and cellphones of 1,174 registered Ohio voters May 7 through Tuesday. It has a margin of sampling error of plus or minus 2.9 percentage points.