Kasich Campaign Press Release - OP-ED: Senators Talk, Governors Act

Nashua Telegraph

Want economic security for your family? Want your nation, your community, your home to be safer? Vote for a governor for president.

Senators are talkers. They're philosophers and poets, dwelling in the abstract, dealing in words. The Republican talkers are Sens. Rubio and Cruz.

Rubio has his poetic lines down pat. But, as the Conway Sun said after a recent interview, Rubio is like "a computer algorithm designed to cover talking points... It was like someone wound him up, pointed him towards the door and pushed 'play.' "

Ted Cruz, is another whiz-kid on the soapbox. But that hasn't impressed his Senate colleagues. Of 53 fellow Republican senators, zero have endorsed him.

Talkers make poor presidents, Barack Obama being a painful example. When Sen. Obama ran for president in 2008, his dazzling speeches — like those of Rubio and Cruz today — got rave reviews. Did glibness translate into greatness as president? No. Obama is not alone. Name the last great president who was a senator. Tough assignment, right?

Governors are doers by nature and necessity and make great presidents — or at least capable presidents. Ronald Reagan, a former governor, was a great president. Bill Clinton, a former governor, was certainly a capable president, though Republicans disagreed with his policies.

The Republican doers are Kasich, Christie and Bush.

What about candidates lacking experience in government? Managing business is not the same as managing government.

If government and business were the same, the Founders would have founded America as a business, not a government.

With a CEO, it's my way or the highway. But the president of the United States works with a tough co-equal branch of government called the Congress — 535 individualists whom the president can't fire, bully or ridicule. With no experience in government, Donald, Carly and Dr. Carson would require training wheels for a couple of years.

Our nation and families face great dangers. Has there ever been a more worrisome time in your memory? Bad news cascades upon us daily, much of it the result of poor leadership in the White House. To produce jobs and make our families economically strong again, we need a president who knows how to make government work. And to make our nation, our communities and our homes safe once again, we need a president with expertise in national defense, who has proven executive ability and can hit the ground running on Inauguration Day.

By this analysis, we're down to Gov. John Kasich and Gov. Chris Christie, as the only two currently serving governors. Which is better qualified?

John Kasich, while chair of the House Budget Committee, balanced the budget four years running, paying down $560 billion of the national debt. You read that right. In your lifetime, the budget was b-a-l-a-n-c-e-d from 1998 through 2001.

Scout's honor. Kasich produced four surpluses, paying down 10 percent of the national debt. Christie never served in Congress, much less balanced the federal budget.

Kasich turned Ohio's $8 billion deficit into a $2 billion surplus, cutting taxes $5 billion along the way. Ohio has produced new jobs faster than the national average, with wages growing faster than the national average; its bond rating is strong and its pensions sound. That's called success.

Under Christie, New Jersey's bond rating has been downgraded nine times collectively by the three rating agencies, the state ranks dead last in the nation in funding its pensions, and it ranks 49th in private-sector job growth. Christier is not a successful governor.

Kasich served 18 years on the House Armed Services Committee. He's a national security expert. Christie has no experience in defense, except riding around with Barack Obama in a military helicopter. He would require several years of on the job training.

To read the full article, click here.

Gordon Humphrey is a former U.S. Senator from New Hampshire and served during the Reagan administration.