Apr 1, 2016 2 min read

Even though he grew up in Pittsburgh, John Kasich is a man of Ohio. Ohio can claim the most U.S. presidents living in Ohio at the time of election: William H. Harrison, Rutherford B. Hayes, James Garfield, William McKinley, William H. Taft and Warren G. Harding. Among them, two served in the Ohio State Senate, four served in the U.S. House of Representatives, two served in the U.S. Senate, two served as governors of Ohio, three were Civil War veterans, one was the first to be elected with the women’s vote and one subsequently became a Supreme Court justice.

Similarly, John Kasich has served his Ohio community, in the Ohio State Senate, in the U.S House of Representatives, and, as a second term governor of Ohio. Also, similar to past U.S. presidents, he has published books, including two New York Times bestsellers.

Kasich can also be compared to Harry Truman. Truman was not from Ohio; he was from Independence, Mo., but Truman boldly spoke the truth. “I never did give them hell. I just told them the truth, and they thought it was hell.”

John Kasich also has the “right stuff” to speak plainly and “give ’em hell.” He graduated from Stowe-Rox High School in 1970. Recently, he told The Washington Post, “You screw with me, you’re screwing with the wrong guy. In McKees Rocks, you come in our town, you beat us in football, we’ll break every freakin’ window on your bus. You don’t want to mess with us.”

John Kasich is a man of steel. He knows who he is and what he is about. No one is going to bully him into dropping out of the race. Even though he currently has the fewest delegates and looks like a dark horse, when the voting begins on the convention floor, the highly qualified John Kasich could become a contender.

Jane Offutt

Mt. Lebanon