海角大神

It was a signature moment in John Kasich鈥檚 2016 campaign.

At an event in South Carolina, a young man stood up and spoke of a series of personal tragedies, his voice wavering. He was in 鈥渁 really dark place,鈥� he said, but had found hope in the Lord, his friends, and 鈥渕y presidential candidate,鈥� Governor Kasich of Ohio.

Kasich walked over and .

A year later, Donald Trump is president, and Kasich is still a governor. But the Republican hasn鈥檛 given up promoting his vision for the country, which he calls 鈥渢he politics of the heart.鈥� It is the focus of his new book, 鈥淭wo Paths: America Divided or United.鈥�

One path, Kasich says, turns fear into hatred, and divides people. The other, 鈥渉igher鈥� path turns fear into hope as people take strength from one another.

鈥淚f you鈥檙e living in the shadows, if you鈥檙e weak, if you鈥檙e powerless, we run over you, because you don鈥檛 have any political clout. And that鈥檚 just wrong,鈥� Kasich said at a recent breakfast hosted by 海角大神. 鈥淚 think that in our country, everybody has to have a sense that they have a shot, they have a chance, and that they have an opportunity.鈥�

Kasich & Trump's contrasting approaches

Kasich鈥檚 decision to expand Medicaid for low-income Ohioans under the Affordable Care Act exemplifies this approach. On Thursday, he took to Twitter and passed by House Republicans as 鈥渨oefully short鈥� on the resources needed to help the most vulnerable citizens.聽

In a way, President Trump and Kasich offered different approaches to the same phenomenon 鈥� a sense of powerlessness by 鈥渢he little guy鈥� in a changing nation and world.

Trump won by twinning his outsize, outsider persona with the rhetoric of populism and nationalism. Kasich, a two-term governor and former nine-term congressman, deployed the quieter rhetoric of a more mainstream, moderate conservatism, and fell short.

But Kasich is still part of the national conversation, and is showing certain tell-tale signs: the book, the media tour, the online fundraising. Once out of office, at the end of next year, he intends to maintain his political organization and speak out on issues.

At the Monitor breakfast, Kasich insists another presidential campaign is unlikely. 鈥淚 mean, my wife would kill me if she ever 鈥撯�� Kasich interrupts himself and .聽鈥淚鈥檓 not, sweetie!鈥� he calls out. 鈥淭hat鈥檚 not why I鈥檓 here!鈥�

More fundamentally, though, lies a deeper question: Is there a market for Kasich鈥檚 鈥減olitics of the heart鈥�? Trump鈥檚 job approval ratings are at historic lows for this stage of a presidency, but most Republicans are still with him 鈥� including the white working-class voters who handed him bellwether Ohio.

In fact, Kasich鈥檚聽power may be in his ability to garner attention as the successful governor of the seventh-largest state. At a time when faith in government is low, Kasich stands out with rating in Ohio.

鈥淚f Kasich鈥檚 success in Ohio is any indication, there may be a good-sized appetite鈥� for his brand more broadly, says John Green, director of the Bliss Institute of Applied Politics and a dean at the University of Akron.

Bill Vasu, a technology CEO in Chagrin Falls, Ohio, is a Democrat, but says that it would have been a tough call for him to decide how to vote if it had been Kasich vs. Hillary Clinton.

鈥淚 could sense how much the campaign had taken the edge off his right-wing tendencies, and made him a lot more understanding of the people and their needs,鈥� says Mr. Vasu.

Just to be clear: Kasich is still a Republican 鈥� 鈥淚 haven鈥檛 given up on my party,鈥� he insists 鈥� but his party has changed. It has embraced Trump, more or less. Kasich wants to change the party again, and move the nation beyond the hyper-partisanship that has gripped its politics.

'A crisis of belonging'

We鈥檝e seen this movie before, or at least a version of it. In 1988, George H. W. Bush called for a 鈥渒inder, gentler nation鈥� on his way to the presidency. In 2000, his son George W. Bush campaigned successfully as a 鈥渃ompassionate conservative.鈥�

Mr. Green sees Kasich鈥檚 鈥減olitics of the heart鈥� as a bit different. The Bush family鈥檚 sense of compassion came from a place of 鈥渘oblesse oblige,鈥� in which 鈥渢he well-to-do have certain responsibilities, because of their privileged position,鈥� he says.

鈥淜asich is still a working-class kid from McKees Rock, Pa., and to him it鈥檚 all about opportunity and compassion,鈥� Green adds. 鈥淚t鈥檚 not that the more fortunate have a special obligation. It鈥檚 that everyone has an obligation to enhance opportunity, but also to take care of the needy.鈥�

At the Monitor breakfast, with reporters from two dozen national news outlets at the table, Kasich is asked what he means by 鈥渢he politics of the heart."

鈥淚 think it鈥檚 about really loving our kids and getting out of our comfort zone to educate them,鈥� he said. 鈥淚 think it鈥檚 writing a health-care bill that keeps in mind the people who are drug-addicted and mentally ill.鈥� Or when a problem arises with community and police, a diverse group addresses the issues and considers everyone鈥檚 concerns 鈥� including those of the police.

鈥淚 do think Kasich is right that we鈥檙e experiencing a crisis of belonging,鈥� says Robert P. Jones, CEO of the Public Religion Research Institute in Washington and author of 鈥淭he End of White 海角大神 America.鈥� 鈥淚t鈥檚 just that the two parties have so far put together two mutually exclusive visions of what that looks like.鈥�

Kasich doesn't fit comfortably in either camp. But to be clear, he's no big-spending liberal. He believes lower taxes and less regulation can help grow the economy, and produce the resources needed to help the less fortunate. After he leaves the governor鈥檚 office, he will push for a balanced budget amendment to the US Constitution.

An imperfect messenger

Kasich is complicated 鈥� a man of deep faith who can be prickly. And he may be an imperfect messenger for his politics of the heart.

鈥淚鈥檓 a flawed guy, sometimes I don鈥檛 spend enough time with people, sometimes I鈥檓 short,鈥� he says. 鈥淏ut I don鈥檛 want to be that way 鈥� and when people point it out, I鈥檒l turn around and try to do something to fix it.鈥�

Of course, it鈥檚 too soon to be talking 2020 in a serious way, though Trump himself has already registered for reelection. Taking on the sitting president of one鈥檚 own party can be a fool鈥檚 errand. The bottom would have to fall out of Trump鈥檚 support among Republicans for any serious Republican candidate to consider getting in.

Kasich says he wants Trump to succeed. 鈥淚t鈥檚 sort of like being on an airplane; you want to root for the pilot,鈥� the governor told reporters after an Oval Office meeting in February.

Then there鈥檚 the question of whether loyal Republicans would even consider Kasich, who wrote in John McCain for president.

John Altes, a student at the University of Michigan, likes Kasich鈥檚 experience and approves of Medicaid expansion. He supported Kasich in the primaries last year, but now feels 鈥渉e鈥檚 sort of motivated by vanity.鈥� He points to Kasich鈥檚 recent visit to New Hampshire, home of the first primary.

Other Republicans point negatively to Kasich鈥檚 decision to boycott the Republican National Convention last summer in Cleveland. Instead, he held a separate, campaign-like event at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.

But Kasich tells the Monitor he has no regrets about not welcoming the delegates to his home state.

鈥淚 wasn鈥檛 going to go to a party where I wasn鈥檛 going to behave or say something good,鈥� he says. 鈥淚 didn鈥檛 agree with the tone or what I heard, so why would I go? I know people were going to be mad at me, and they鈥檙e still mad at me. But that鈥檚 life.鈥�