“In my entire political life, I have never seen the kind of negatives, smearing, lying stuff that these Democrats have done and brought on to the people in this state,” Kasich told about 200 supporters. “Barack Obama comes into this state and all he talks about is ‘They’re going to take us backward.’ First of all, hey, you know what, backwards into the ‘90s is a heck of a lot better than what he’s been giving us since he’s been president of the United States.”
He said Democrats are using scare tactics and fear.
“Shame on them. Do they have one good, positive, decent idea in their brain? I don’t think so,” he shouted.
Strickland campaign spokeswoman Lis Smith said the governor has been talking on the campaign trail about jobs, green energy and education reform.
The governor does drill into Kasich’s job as a managing director with investment bank Lehman Brothers and as a $50,000-a-year senior fellow at Ohio State University, Smith said. “If John Kasich thinks that’s a smear, why did he take those jobs?” she said.
Meanwhile, Kasich took swipes at former President Bill Clinton, Vice President Joe Biden and President Barack Obama. “Joe Biden has been here 20 times. We pray every night that he’ll come 20 more times,” Kasich said.
Kasich spoke for less than 10 minutes, took no questions from the media and hopped into an SUV rather than joining other statewide Republican candidates on the bus. A state patrol spokesman said the security detail decided Kasich should ride in the SUV.
The Republican ticket’s three-day bus tour includes a stop at 11 a.m. today in Centerville and former House Speaker Newt Gingrich will join the tour in Lima.
Strickland is scheduled to campaign today in Cleveland, Youngstown, Warren and Niles.
Also on Monday, Kasich canceled plans to participate on NPR’s “Talk of the Nation,” saying he didn’t want to field questions from callers, according to the radio program. “Talk of the Nation” host Neal Conan told listeners that it was made clear from the beginning that caller questions would be part of the format.
Strickland joined the national radio show saying, “It’s great to be with you and I’m more than willing to take calls.”
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