Ohio Gov. John Kasich on Sunday invoked the late Sen. John McCain urged voters to cast ballots in the midterm elections for candidates who aim to unite the country — and said he won’t campaign for GOP contenders who are “dividers.”
In an interview on CBS News’ “Face The Nation,” Kasich said both Democrats and Republicans have drifted from the middle — and away from most American voters.
"I just won't do it, because if you're a divider and if you can't see the fact that we need to unify people then I can't be for you. I mean, nothing personal. I just can't help you…” he said.
“We spend so much time talking about how lost the Republicans are. But you think about the Democratic Party moving farther and farther to the left — our country is center-right or center-left. It's not on the extremes,” he added.
Kasich also said the life-lesson Sen. John McCain, R-Arizona, taught during his political career was: “Come together. Have guts. Stand up.”
"Leaders walk a lonely road,” he said. “And John did not like people that did this — put their finger in the air and get the wind. He was so comfortable with himself. And it really didn't matter to him who he was going to have to take on or what cause he was going to go for."
Kasich shared what he was thinking as he came before McCain’s coffin as it lay in state at the Capitol last week.
"I had a word with John,” he said. “I said, 'John, you remember I called you when you were sick and I asked you if you were OK with the big guy?' And I said, 'John, I'll see you up there someday. Keep the place open for me, would you?’”
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