As a resident of the great state of Ohio, Ohio Governor John Kasich just lost the rest of the respect I had for him yesterday. Basically he became Dennis Kucinich. For those who aren’t familiar with Kucinich, you can either google his colorful history, or trust me when I say he’s a political punch line.
Despite long odds, I voted for John Kasich in the Republican Primary in Ohio. Kasich won and parlayed his momentum into absolutely nothing. Then when he was mathematically eliminated from the race, he kept running to parlay his handful of delegates into…absolutely nothing. Donald Trump won the convention with less drama than Hillary Clinton won the Democrat Convention.
So as Donald Trump has shown his true colors, the Republicans have shown theirs and broken into 3 camps:
The Powells: Colin Powell and a handful of other Republicans have crossed the aisle to endorse Hillary Clinton. I don’t agree with the Powells, but I respect their thought process.
The Christies: Some Republicans decided that no matter who was nominated, they were going to support the candidate, whether it be Jeb Bush, Donald Trump, or Satan. I don’t agree with the Christies, but I respect their team spirit.
The Cowards (or The Kasichs): John Kasich and others decided they can’t support Trump. They can’t cross the aisle. And, for some mysterious reason, they can’t go third party. There are other options: Gary Johnson, Jill Stein, and Evan McMullin, just off the top of my head. So when John Kasich announced he was going to write in John McCain, all remaining respect for Kasich was gone.
What Kasich was doing was throwing an adult size temper tantrum. All Republican Presidential Candidates took an oath to support the nominee, whoever that would be, at the beginning of the primaries. Who would have thought it would be Kasich that broke the oath? Then, being a moderate, you think he would have considered Clinton. Nope. And, for the 100th time, the third-party choice should have been in play. But I guarantee you, the Republican Party sent out a memo not to go third party and Kasich followed it. So the result is Kasich’s wishy-washy, mamby-pamby, write-in option. Kasich is saying he hates Trump, hates Hillary, but is more worried about following Republican Machine orders than voting for someone for President. Choosing Party over country.
Who are you voting for? That shouldn't be a hard question for those in high-level leadership positions. Here’s a partial list of other Republican Cowards and who they’re voting for:
John McCain: “a good conservative Republican.” Okay, who would that be?
Kelly Ayotte: “Governor Pence.” Isn’t a vote for Pence a vote for Trump?
Frank LoBiondo: “Governor Pence.” Ditto
Rob Portman: “Governor Pence.”
Mark Kirk: “General Petraeus.” What?
Mitt Romney: Not Trump or Clinton. ‘None of your business.’ Okay, I paraphrased that one.
Jeb Bush: Not Trump or Clinton. “I will support principled conservatives at the state and federal levels.”
Ron Paul: Not Trump or Clinton or Johnson or Stein. “We will update this page if Ron Paul makes an endorsement.”
Rick Snyder: Not Trump or Clinton. “I’ve got important things I want to work on in Michigan.” Too busy to vote?
Larry Hogan: Not Trump or Clinton. “I’m not going to endorse anyone and would rather focus on things here in Maryland.” Ditto.
References:
http://www.newsweek.com/mccain-pulls-support-wont-vote-trump-507892 (1)
http://www.slate.com/blogs/the_slatest/2016/10/09/a_running_list_of_the_republican_leaders_running_away_from_trump_after_2005.html (2)(3)(4)
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/mark-kirk-donald-trump-2016_us_580fc7f1e4b02b1d9e637739 (5)
http://www.sltrib.com/home/4532371-155/hes-voted-but-question-remains-whom (6)
https://www.facebook.com/jebbush/posts/876702172458827 (7)
http://www.ronpaul.com/ron-paul-for-president/ronpaul2016/ (8)
http://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2016/10/where-republicans-stand-on-donald-trump-a-cheat-sheet/481449/ (9) (10)