Gov. John Kasich and former Vice President Joe Biden are speaking together Tuesday in Delaware, leading to more talk about Kasich as the GOP’s bipartisan counter to President Trump.
The joint appearance, called “As We Stand Divided,” is already sold out at the University of Delaware in Newark. The event’s focus is on how to bridge political and partisan divides in Washington.
Both men have been discussed as potential 2020 presidential candidates. Biden came close to entering the Democratic race in 2016, while Kasich was the last Republican to drop out last year and never embraced Trump at the top of his party’s ticket.
Kasich has continued his harsh criticism of the president on issues ranging from immigration to health care to gerrymandering. Earlier this month, Kasich said if the Republican Party continues to be anti-immigration and anti-trade, then he won't be able to support the party.
And in an appearance on NBC’s “Meet the Press” this weekend, Kasich said Trump’s move to cut subsidies to health insurers will hurt people who won’t be able to afford coverage. Kasich also criticized congressional Democrats for “walking away from the table” and not seeking compromise on health care.
Kasich, meanwhile, has worked with Democratic Colorado Gov. John Hickenlooper on how to stabilize the health insurance system.
All of that has led to the governor’s dwindling popularity among the conservative base of the Ohio Republican Party. At a forum earlier this month with fundamentalist Christians, most of the roughly 500 people attending indicated they had a less-than-favorable view of Kasich.
