Ohio Gov. John Kasich sounded Friday he was optimistic he could have the resources he needs for a presidential run.
“First of all, I’m trying to determine whether I’ll have the resources to win,” he told a Christian Science Monitor lunch for reporters. He said he was optimistic he would have that, though he had no date when he might make a decision.
Kasich, who later Friday appeared at a National Review Institute Ideas Summit at a downtown Washington hotel, cast himself as a center-right governor unafraid to combat conservative orthodoxy.
Immigration changes, he said, should be a matter or negotiation. He took federal Medicaid money to help those most in need.
“The last Republican that I can think of who expanded Medicaid was Ronald Reagan,” Kasich said.
On same sex marriage, he took what’s become a familiar center-right position. “I am for marriage defined as between a man and a woman,” he said. “If the Supreme Court changes that, those changes have to be respected. I have a number of friends who are gay. I like them.”
He said he would attend a friend or relative’s same sex wedding. “I’ll be celebrating with them,” he said.
Kasich was asked to compare himself with two other Midwestern governors who could potential Republican presidential rivals, Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker and Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder.
“I'm not going to take your bait,” he told the reporter. But Kasich did maintain: "You can't be president if you don't win Ohio.”
Kasich offered his resume at both stops, noting his stint as House Budget Committee chairman and member of the House Armed Services Committee. He often noted that he was re-elected overwhelmingly to a second term as governor last November.
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