Man of Mystery

Republicans have always been mysterious to me. Their ideas make no sense to me, their policy positions often strike me as flat our evil. I just don't get it, as a rule. I try, but it almost never works. I've kind of gotten used to it.

Lately, though, the GOP has taken the mystery up to a whole new level. Out of the whole, huge, field of candidates for their party's presidential nomination, there's just one who seems even remotely electable, but thus far he's garnered only minimal support. Just to be clear, it's not that I think any of the clown carload of contenders would be anything short of disastrous as president, just that one of them might have a shot at winning.

Every bit as much as any of his rivals', John Kasich's ideas repell me. He's every bit as misogynistic and homophobic as the next Republican candidate, so far as I can tell. But in the mayhem of the GOP debates, he's an oasis of relative calm. Compared to Trump's rantings, Jeb's awkward stumbles, Carly Fiorina's mean girl smirks, he comes across as charming, kind of, and relatively sane. Most compellingly of all, though, if nominated he'd bring Ohio and its 18 electoral votes with him to the general election.

Then I think John Kasich has no real intention of becoming president this time around. Maybe he's just hoping to get himself and his name out there for 2020. Maybe he's really running for vice president, like Chris Noth on The Good Wife. If Jeb Bush hadn't been doing such a good job of making himself unelectable lately, I might be concerned about the prospect of a Bush/Kasich ticket next November. Adding Bush's 29 Floridian electoral votes to Kasich's 18 would make for quite a head start, on the road to 270.

But as long as Jeb keeps saying things like this, I don't think there's much to worry about.