Kasich's camp slams GOP effort to head off primary vs. Trump

[DonViejo]

New Hampshire's Republican Party is weighing measures to make it harder for a Republican to challenge the president in 2020.

By CHRISTOPHER CADELAGO 12/11/2018 05:04 AM EST

Trump-aligned Republican activists in New Hampshire are quietly maneuvering to fortify his standing and avoid a potentially disruptive primary challenge in 2020.

In the most far-reaching move, Donald Trump’s allies are looking to scrap the state GOP’s tradition of remaining neutral in the primary — to clear the way for an endorsement of the president. They’re also moving to install one of their own as head of the state Republican Party.

The efforts wouldn’t stop a moderate Republican like John Kasich from taking on Trump. But they are designed to shield the president from the kind of damage that a serious primary fight could do to him heading into the general election. An endorsement would provide much more than just a verbal statement of support: It would enable the New Hampshire Republican Party to throw the weight of its entire apparatus behind Trump against any GOP rival.

A top strategist to Kasich said the attempt to stack the deck for the incumbent will have no bearing on whether the outgoing Ohio governor decides to run, or on his ultimate success given the significant bloc of independent voters there.

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https://www.politico.com/story/2018/12/11/kasichs-camp-slams-gop-effort-to-head-off-primary-vs-trump-1054858

[Botany]

1. " ... a moderate Republican like John Kasich ...

Kasich is not a moderate and he thinks that Jesus walked on earth so
he could be President one day.

[NewJeffCT]

4. yes - that stood out to me

he's a sane far right conservative, as opposed to Donny being an insane one.

[marylandblue]

5. The bar to being a moderate is so low now,

All you need is sanity and you are a moderate.

[Botany]

6. When John was @ Lehman Brothers and Fox News he sold the State of OH's public employees ...

... retirement fund $300 million worth of junk paper just before Lehman Brothers went
bankrupt, he took a big commission on that sale, but when he became Governor in 2010
he complained that the retirement fund didn't have enough money in it.

And don't get me going into how Kasich and his wall street buddies bought all the profits
into state liquor sales for pennies on the dollar and ran the profits into a semi public/private
organization called Jobs Ohio, which replaced Ohio's department of development.

[zipplewrath]

2. Didn't Trump complain about this very thing?

Didn't he claim that HRC had "rigged the primaries" to favor herself over any challengers?

[Renew Deal]

3. I don't think it will matter.

If people are against Trump, they will be against him. You know what the real threat to Trump is in NH? Independents that can vote in either primary. They could come out big against him.

[OnDoutside]

7. Great point.