National Harbor, MD - Ohio Gov. John Kasich became the first 2016 presidential candidate to step on stage at the Conservative Political Action Conference Friday afternoon.
“The spirit of our country rests in our families,” he said. “Don’t wait for someone to fix the problems – fix them yourselves.”
“I’m going to give you your power,” Kasich promised.
He’s going to send education, welfare, all back to where Americans live. We’ll “run America from the bottom up” and not wait for another government program, he pledged.
Kasich, who has often been a champion for children’s futures, encouraged adults to join a mentoring program to encourage our young people. “Don’t count on government,” he repeated.
Fox News host Sean Hannity joined the governor after his remarks for an in depth discussion about his potential path to the nomination.
Hannity began by congratulating Kasich for not gaining an insult from Donald Trump at Thursday night’s GOP debate on Fox News. “You’re the only one on stage that didn’t get a nickname from Donald Trump,” Hannity said.
“You will not beat him by smearing him,” Kasich said. “You will beat him by having a record.”
The governor again pointed to his record in Ohio, where he cut taxes, which he said proves he is above political gibberish.
“I’ve already done these things. I want to go back and do these again to get the country working again.”
Kasich then addressed what he views as his path to becoming the Republican nominee. “I’m going to win Ohio,” he confidently said. “Then I have to win 68 percent of remaining delegates."
Rubio has to win over 60 percent as well and Ted Cruz has to win over 50 percent. These numbers, Kasich suggests, proves a brokered convention is the obvious outcome.
“I do,” think it’ll be a brokered convention, he said, before getting excited about the idea.
“It has to be done fairly,” Kasich said. “As crazy as this year is, can you think of anything cooler than a convention?”
Kasich was excited for the opportunity for kids to learn all about American politics and gain a deeper understanding of the election process instead of watching hours of the Kardashians on reality TV.
“You can’t have a bunch of people in smoke-filled rooms” deciding the outcome, Kasich insisted. It’s time to circumvent the establishment, he said.
Kasich also took a few moments to talk about how he has succeeded despite being ignored by the media.
“I had to fight for every second,” he said. “I couldn’t get any attention.”
Now, he’s the last governor standing.
“Finally the country is getting to know who I am.”
Ted Cruz and Ben Carson are also scheduled to address CPAC today, with Marco Rubio speaking Saturday. Donald Trump has cancelled his appearance.