Obama touts Dem candidate with ads in swing states, in hopes of boosting voter turnout
Bill Hinch / Special to USA TODAY
Gov. John Kasich of Ohio, who has been out of office for nearly 30 years, holds an event on the steps of the Cleveland International Airport on Monday, April 8, 2016, to kick off his presidential campaign.
Gov. John Kasich of Ohio, who has been out of office for nearly 30 years, holds an event on the steps of the Cleveland International Airport on Monday, April 8, 2016, to kick off his presidential campaign. (Bill Hinch / Special to USA TODAY)
John Kasich’s presidential bid is a serious longshot at the moment, but his campaign released a video ad Monday that is aimed at getting voters out to the polls in three key swing states — New Hampshire, Iowa and Colorado.
Kasich, a five-term governor, has been in trouble for months. In mid-March, he lost the backing of the Republican Party’s political action arm when the group decided to support Ted Cruz, then in the battle for the Republican presidential nomination and who later emerged as the winner.
But Kasich is trying to turn things around by targeting two of the biggest swing states in the electoral map. Polls have shown him trailing Donald Trump in New Hampshire polling, but in the last week, he has closed the gap, and he has been leading the New Hampshire polls.
In fact, according to a USA TODAY analysis of five recent New Hampshire polls, Kasich is running at or near the top of the GOP pack. The average of recent polls shows him leading Trump by 10 points in a head-to-head match-up, and he is leading Trump by 4 points nationally.
The question is whether those numbers can hold up over time — and how Kasich can continue to try and turn those numbers around.
“The ad is a perfect example of why his time is up,” said Chris Wilson, director of the New Hampshire political program at the University of New Hampshire.
More: Kasich in Ohio says he’s making his own play in campaign stop: Hillary Clinton, Bill Clinton
More: Kasich