ATKINSON, N.H. – As he prepares for a make-or-break contest in New Hampshire next week, Ohio Gov. John Kasich is following a brazen strategy to lock up votes: He's optimistic, even sunny, about the nation's future.
At rallies and town halls across the Granite State, he talks of the importance of a campaign of “good to spread good.” His Super PAC snapped up $1 million to air ads highlighting feel-good messages. And he’s passed at every chance to hit rival Republican candidates.
“People want to be connected again. People want to know someone cares about their problems and is going to be happy with their successes,” he told a crowd of about 100 at a country club in New Hampshire’s hill country. “Can we listen to each other a little bit, care about each other more?”
The sunny message is a gamble for Kasich, who virtually skipped Iowa’s caucus and is betting his candidacy on a strong showing in New Hampshire.
Many polls show Kasich between second and fourth place in New Hampshire ahead of the Feb. 9 primary, which is tightening as the political world descends on New England and the state’s famously fickle voters start to make up their minds.
Already, there are signs that Florida Sen. Marco Rubio’s strong third-place finish in Iowa, and his consistent case that establishment Republicans should coalesce around him instead of Kasich and other mainstream rivals, are giving him a boost.
A University of Massachusetts-Lowell poll released Friday shows Rubio gaining steam, going from 8 percent of support on Monday, the day of the Iowa caucus, to 15 percent on Friday – catapulting him ahead of Kasich, who is at 8 percent.
The Ohio governor, though, is sticking to his message of fiscal conservatism and bipartisan consensus-building. He calls himself a “convener” who got warring factions in Washington and Ohio to come to accords over tough budget fights.
“You’re going to have to get both parties to work together. That’s just the way it is.”
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