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[KSweeley]

According to this report, Ohio Governor John Kasich told CNN's Jake Tapper that if the GOP cannot be fixed, he's "not going to be able to support the party, period": http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry...-to-leave-the-gop_us_59d11962e4b05f005d34e18b

Ohio governor John Kasich, a top Republican leader and former candidate for the party’s presidential nomination, on Sunday said the GOP may be on a trajectory to lose supporters like him.

“If the party can’t be fixed, Jake, then I’m not going to be able to support the party, period,” he told Jake Tapper on CNN’s “State of the Union,” a few minutes after he noted that Americans seem more eager to hear from independent candidates than ever before.

The governor’s comment came in response to a question about how Republicans should react to Alabama politician Roy Moore securing their party’s nomination for that state’s open Senate seat. Moore is a former judge who was twice removed from Alabama’s Supreme Court for violating legal standards, and Tapper noted that he has said homosexual conduct should be illegal, questioned the birthplace of former President Barack Obama and suggested Rep. Keith Ellison (D-Minn.) should not be allowed a position in Congress because he is a practicing Muslim.

“Well, look, I don’t run the party. I can tell you for me, I don’t support that. I couldn’t vote for that. I don’t know what the heck I would have to do, but I don’t live in that state. I mean, those claims are ― I mean, they’re ludicrous and they’re divisive,” Kasich said, adding that the party needs to be “fixed” to limit the influence of far-right elements and he sees his job as trying to get that done. The governor said he hopes figures like Moore do not represent the GOP’s future.

Tapper explicitly asked if Kasich might split from the GOP if it continues being associated with figures like Moore.

“No, not at this...” the governor responded, trailing off as if to hint that a time may come when he would consider parting ways with GOP. “What I’m saying to you is, we need to fix it. If our party, if the Republican Party is going to be anti-immigration, if it’s not going to be worried about debt, if it’s going to be anti-trade, this is not where our party can be. So I’m going to fight like everything I have... it’s why I’m on these shows, because I want this party to be straightened out. But I not only want the party to be straightened out, I want the country to be straightened out. And so it’s really a battle again inside of both parties, but people are beginning to say, I don’t like either of them. And that says something big. So hopefully our party leaders will pay attention to this.”

 

[cdyhybrid]

Uh, if you haven't jumped off the train yet you never will.

You're complicit in all of this.

 

[Byakuya769]

#bothparties

 

[WedgeX]

#bothparties

Alas that Jim Justice just switched from the Democrats to the GOP.

 

[Dan]

"The governor said he hopes figures like Moore do not represent the GOP’s future."

It's cute that Kasich pretends his party hasn't already been fostering the radical views of folks like Moore for years and years.

 

[perfectchaos007]

Is this the guy that likes to stuff his face for photo ops?

 

[Cesare Borgia]

If Trump flames out and ruins the party (short term) I'd expect the GOP to finally move southern primaries further back in the schedule. If Trump didn't win, Cruz would have for basically the same reason.

 

[Slayven]

He is saying the same shit they all say, but still cosign shit when time comes.

The ones that really feel this way are "retiring"

 

[GrapeApes]

The party isn't that into you, bra. They into open bigotry now. Unless you start brandishing a pistol in public or complaining about transgender troops in our bathroom, the base ain't trying to hear from you.

 

[BlackDoomShadow]

"If Trump Does This, It Will Be The Last Straw For Me," Local Conservative Says For Twelfth Time This Year

 

[Marion Cobretti]

This punk is all talk.

If he hasn't left yet, he has no heart or spine.

 

[Diablos]

Is this the guy that likes to stuff his face for photo ops?

He also likes Fall Out Boy (lol)

I appreciate Kasich being one of the most independent voices in the GOP right now, I appreciate his willingness to finally bail if they don't change their ways, but most people in the party probably do not care if he goes through with this.

Unfortunately it's too little too late for him. Still, I hope he figures out a few ways to give the party a headache before and after he leaves.

 

[Mammoth Jones]

I've left political parties for less. If everything you've seen in the past few years ain't enough then nothing is.

 

[Dishwalla]

GOP being "fixed" lol. Good luck with that.

 

[Gentleman Jack]

He's been in the game for forty years and should have seen the writing on the wall that the GOP didn't have his back in 2000 when he couldn't rub together two nickels for a presidential run. Now he's an 'establishment Republican' that both Trumpists and Freedom Caucus alike despise so he might as well retire or go independent, because nobody wants his old democrat-hugging ass.

 

[jack_package_200]

Deleted. My bad.

I still think the issues with Democratic party are nowhere near as bad as the other side.

He's had a year to make this decision. If he's still there, it's because he already made his choice, regardless of what he publicly says or questions from the party he chose

Also this

 

[Sweeney Tom]

He's had a year to make this decision. If he's still there, it's because he already made his choice, regardless of what he publicly says or questions from the party he chose

 

[Randolph Freelander]

Insightful, Bro.

One side describes white nationalists as "very good people"

Read the OP.

 

[Diablos]

He's been in congress for forty years and should have seen the writing on the wall that the GOP didn't have his back in 2000 when he couldn't rub together two nickels for a presidential run. Now he's an 'establishment Republican' that both Trumpists and Freedom Caucus alike despise so he might as well retire or go independent, because nobody wants his old democrat-hugging ass.

If you are a lifelong 'moderate' Republican, this stuff is your sweat and blood -- so in fairness, it's probably very hard to walk away from the party you've called home for decades as you see it embark on this corrupt and disturbing path as of Nov 8 2016.

I agree that he and many other politicians in the GOP that are/were like him should have been able to find the sense and courage to do this a long time ago when they would have made a bigger impact.

 

[FyreWulff]

then back up your words and run as an independent Republican to guarantee Trump loses the next election

if you sacrifice yourself politically then I'll believes it

 

[Randolph Freelander]

GOP cannot be fixed as long as there's Fox News and the rest of right wing media.

In fact, if there's one thing I dream of in Mueller's investigation, it's a revelation that Russia has been involved in such media for years. If that can't open the eyes of voters on the right, nothing will. But to be honest, short of a true mea culpa in Republican circles, I'm not sure anything can be done short of waiting for people to die off and hope future generations are smarter, despite evidence currently building to the contrary.

 

[Bounceounce]

Hopefully this doesn't fool people into voting for him when he runs for president again.

 

[Diablos]

GOP cannot be fixed as long as there's Fox News and the rest of right wing media.

And Gerrymandering, and the potential for an ultraconservative SCOTUS, and Citizens United, and their willingness to attract the worst aspects of American society for a vote...
Oh and they definitely cannot fix themselves at all with Trump as the face of their party right now. Forget it.

 

[UberTag]

I think it's cute how Kasich thinks he can dress the GOP up in a fancy sweater and change them from what they really are...

 

[Foffy]

"I-I'll leave this time, I promise."

 

[Pryce]

Prepping for that 2020 bid.

 

[Shaanyboi]

Uh, if you haven't jumped off the train yet you never will.

You're complicit in all of this.

Anyone jumping ship now is just trying to save their own skin and nothing more. But that entire party is thoroughly invested with the plague.

 

[SatelliteOfLove]

Good bye, John. It's been time to bail.

GOP cannot be fixed as long as there's Fox News and the rest of right wing media.

In fact, if there's one thing I dream of in Mueller's investigation, it's a revelation that Russia has been involved in such media for years. If that can't open the eyes of voters on the right, nothing will. But to be honest, short of a true mea culpa in Republican circles, I'm not sure anything can be done short of waiting for people to die off and hope future generations are smarter, despite evidence currently building to the contrary.

They don't have to be involved for years, just involved recently to put some of these instigators who aligned their views with Daddy Vlady for cold hard rubles in jail.

The pecking order of "more whacko than thou" must be broken. As long as that threat of crazy primary challengers in hateful feedback loops with mouthbreathers and dogmatic billionaires funneling dark money into the SuperPACs continue to call the shots, moderates can't be moderates and the party will just continue to radicalize all over again, even if this Trump Cancer is excised cleanly.

 

[Davide]

Hopefully this doesn't fool people into voting for him when he runs for president again.

The Republicans don't want Kasich anyway.

 

[B-Dubs]

"The governor said he hopes figures like Moore do not represent the GOP's future."

It's cute that Kasich pretends his party hasn't already been fostering the radical views of folks like Moore for years and years.

It's funny because he used to be one of the crazies, at least before his return to Ohio and subsequent re-branding.

I think it's cute how Kasich thinks he can dress the GOP up in a fancy sweater and change them from what they really are...

It obviously worked for him, so why not the whole party?

 

[Tranqueris]

#bothparties

These guys can never criticize their own party without bringing the Democrats into it.

 

[Aaronrules380]

He won't quit because at the end of the day, it's a feature and not a bug

 

[KernelPanic]

"The governor said he hopes figures like Moore do not represent the GOP’s future."

It's cute that Kasich pretends his party hasn't already been fostering the radical views of folks like Moore for years and years.

They just wanted to appeal to such people to get votes. They never thought these people would actually run and begin to take over

 

[Randolph Freelander]

They don't have to be involved for years, just involved recently to put some of these instigators who aligned their views with Daddy Vlady for cold hard rubles in jail.

The pecking order of "more whacko than thou" must be broken. As long as that threat of crazy primary challengers in hateful feedback loops with mouthbreathers and dogmatic billionaires funneling dark money into the SuperPACs continue to call the shots, moderates can't be moderates and the party will just continue to radicalize all over again, even if this Trump Cancer is excised cleanly.

No, my dream scenario is very much that Russian involvement in undermining American democracy had been taking place for years before Donald Trump was ever a thing, and it was being done via right wing media. I want an entire generation of world views collapsing. Fox News, Rush Limbaugh, et al., were nuts and ripping this country apart long before Donald Trump decided to run for President. Trump is the symptom, right wing media is the disease. It's right wing media that's driving what you describe in your post, the total movement away from facts and into crazy land.

But, again, this is just a dream scenario, I don't expect it. Occam's Razor is that these people were just doing it because it made them a lot of money.

I'm just exasperated and don't know how we deal with these people. You can't win a debate based on facts, because these people reject even the concept that there are facts. And until you get the right debating within the realm of actual facts, there's no "fixing" the GOP.

 

[Strike]

Yeah, that "moderate" schtick isn't working on me. He may not be insane like a good chunk of his party, but he shares a lot of their shitty positions.

 

[FiggyCal]

Kasich will only allow a few hundred more mistakes before he's had it.

 

[Inuhanyou]

Is kasich still pretending to be a "folksy moderate" republican?

I wish America's establishment politicians didn't judge "correctness" by how moderate they appear. There is only right and wrong in the end, no equivocation

 

[thepotatoman]

What is Kasich's end game? Sure the GOP will inevitably turn on trump, but they'll blame it on him being a democrat in disguise, and still won't admit Kasich was right about him.

The GOP is completely gone from reality and I don't see how they wake up until they lose so many elections that they are forced to face reality or become completely irrelevant and replaced by a third party.

 

[Volimar]

Don't believe his lies. Kasich is a huge piece of shit. He's just trying to get out in front when Trump comes crashing down.

 

[hodayathink]

As an aside, this is part of why, if you're the Democrats, you're okay with nationalizing this Senate race (as if you have that much control over that in the first place, an out of cycle Senate race is generally going to be reported on nationally because there's not much else to pay attention to, especially a Senate that is this close to even). You want Republicans in other places on the record having to either dismiss or defend him, so you can play that response to the people that will hate whatever it is the most.

 

[Usobuko]

" Please be kind to me, history "

 

[Escape Goat]

What courage. Kasich has better political instincts than most, but he’s still a pos.

 

[TemplaerDude]

Still voted on party lines, still a piece of shit.

 

[Angelus Errare]

" Please be kind to me, history "

Basically, Kaisch ain't shit.

 

[hodayathink]

Still voted on party lines, still a piece of shit.

Kasich is a governor, not a Senator. He's still a pretty shitty Republican, mind you, but he doesn't solely vote on party lines.

 

[Raylan Targaryen]

Someone said it in another thread but GOP has no policies or political beliefs anymore.

They only care about one thing, pissing off liberals. There’s no “saving” the party because it’s no longer a political party, it’s just a bunch of redditors/4channers that got elected positions

 

[XMonkey]

Trying to back out of the room all innocent-like while it’s on fire and you helped poured some of the gasoline doesn’t mean shit, John. Too little, too late.

 

[SolarPowered]

You can't fix what has already shattered into a thousand pieces.

 

[timetokill]

Don't worry, Kasich. Roy Moore isn't the GOP's future.

He's the GOP's present.

 

[rokkerkory]

Lies fake news