The departure of Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker from the presidential race could have positive ramifications for Ohio Governor John Kasich.
We wanted to know more about the political fall-out Walker's sudden withdrawal from the race could mean for Kasich so we called OSU political science professor and long-time political observer Paul Beck.
Paul Beck is a professor of Political Science Emeritus at Ohio State. Governor Kasich plans to campaign in South Carolina on Friday.
The following is an automatic transcript of the conversation. Please excuse all minor typos and errors in the text below.
Marilyn Smith: Scott Walker dropped out of the presidential race yesterday. It was something of a surprise for a lot of people. Does his departure have any meaning at all for Ohio Governor John Kasich?
Paul Beck: You know I think it's helpful to Governor Kasich. It opens up some space for him. He has been competing in sort of the establishment lane of the presidential nomination contest on the Republican side and Scott Walker certainly, early on, was someone who was thought to be a player in that particular lane.
Though you remember just a few months ago, the beginning of the year he was the candidate talked about the most and he just has faded from sight certainly in the polls. I'm sure having great difficulty now raising money and that was what prompted the pullout yesterday.
So yes, I think that helps Governor Kasich. Governor Kasich still is mired down in the two to three percent level nationwide so he needs to do better than that obviously. But having a major competitor out of the way I think could very much help him.
MS: Now Governor Kasich has gotten some traction in New Hampshire where he spent the bulk of his time.
PB: Yes.
MS: But Scott Walker was doing well at one point at least with right wing G.O.P. voters in Iowa, Kasich has spent very little time in Iowa, will that hurt him?
PB: Well he may end up spending more time in Iowa. He obviously has developed a strategy to try to gain leverage in New Hampshire both by being there and by spending money in the Boston media market.
He spent a lot of money a lot of his money there spending in that media market by the way, helps him not only in New Hampshire but helps them in Massachusetts as well where they will have a primary in early March. So it's not something that is just New Hampshire focused.
Now will he turn to Iowa? It's conceivable the little space opens up for him in Iowa he may that feel that the Iowa electorate, that caucus electorate, which is probably fifteen to twenty percent of the people will vote Republican the in the general election, so it's just a thin slice of Republicans in Iowa, who actually participate in the caucuses.
And they tend to be very conservative and they tend to be very socially conservative, and while Governor Kasich is not somebody social conservatives would necessarily oppose he's also not somebody that they naturally gravitate to.
And so that may mean that Iowa is not as good a bet for him, even with Walker out of there, as some other states would be.
MS: Some pundits have said that Walker may have peaked too early was Governor Kasich smart to delay getting into the race?
PB: You know I never thought that his delay was going to be problematic for him. We still are in kind of the silly season of the nomination process. Voters are not voting anywhere were so we're looking at the polls. I think there's a tendency to dwell too much on how people are polling right now what's really important to happen in January, well this year in early February, with the Iowa caucus and then following that the New Hampshire primary and then some other contests in South Carolina and Nevada and then on the into on into March.
And Kasich's strategy is to still be there at that point and I think that's a reasonable strategy.
MS: You do see John Kasich in the race for the long term?
PB: I think so I mean the question is going to be will he be able to have enough money to be able to sustain his campaign the and then begin to spend that as we move into February and early March. I don't know whether that's going to happen.
MS: Dr. Paul Beck of the Ohio State University thank you so much.
PB: Thank you, Marilyn. Good to talk to you.
