The Obama administration's handling of the auto industry was of much benefit to Ohio, Gov. John Kasich said at a wide-ranging morning town hall Friday, but the president's broader economic record and nuclear deal with Iran are causes for concern.
"Look, I'm not an Obama hater here [but] I don't agree with him," the outspoken GOP
candidate said at the event, held in New Hampshire and monitored by MSNBC "Morning Joe" hosts Joe Scarborough and Mika Brzezinski, accompanied by Steve Rattner, the financier who served as lead advisor on President Barack Obama's auto industry task force.
"Okay, so he did well on that, but you know what he didn't do well on? Growing this economy, Steve," Kasich said. "He's a government interventionist, a big government guy. What about balancing the budget? What about cutting taxes?"
And as far as the nuclear deal, Kasich said Iran is "getting very, very close to where I would say they are violating this agreement already."
He also criticized Obama when it comes to his dealings with Israel, complaining that "our president won't even meet with the prime minister."
When it comes to his own political plans, Kasich said he wants to bring in a new period of civility between Washington's Democrats and Republicans, but admitted he has hard work ahead if he's elected president.
"It will not be easy to undo all of the anger and partisanship of the last 50 years. It will be difficult, but we need to show respect," he said.
Kasich's numbers are high in his home state, but he's low in the national and polls in other states, and he told the town hall meeting that he's okay with that. The polls have Kasich in sixth place in New Hampshire and lower in national numbers, averaging at about two percent,
according to Real Clear Politics.
"Look, I'm not going to have big national poll numbers right now, and I never sought them," he told the audience. "I was governor. I didn't have time to run around and I didn't even think I was going to do this"
But still, he believes his experience as both a governor from a large state and as a former member of the U.S. House of Representatives, "I'm not sure that anybody else that's out there really knows how to do this. No one has the experience I have."
Kasich further told the crowd that he felt compelled to run because "frankly I think the Lord's been good to me, he's given me blessings, and I've got to use my skills."