Former Ohio governor speaks about current political climate

Yahoo

04-04-2025

COLUMBUS, Ohio (WCMH) — Former Ohio Gov. John Kasich said he knows how to move America forward without relying on the Statehouse or Capitol Hill.
Kasich has a new book called 'Heaven Help Us,' and he said everyday Americans and American faith communities can team up to make a difference.
His sixth book is a collection of real-life stories of Christians, Jews, and Muslims who use faith to lift their communities.
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'So the fact of the matter is, a person can use either a church, a synagogue or a mosque to take an idea whether it's solving human trafficking or poverty or homelessness or literacy, any of these things you hook up with your, with your organization, and they're going to give you support,' Kasich said.
Kasich calls his new book 'Heaven Help Us' a collection of true-life anecdotes, inspirational people doing remarkable things.
'One is the shootings in down in Charleston, South Carolina, and how people forgave the shooter and what forgiveness is all about, or a guy who started passing out groceries in the back of a pickup truck inspired by Mother Teresa, who's now feeding over a half a million people every single day,' he said.
Good people of all faiths doing God's work, Kasich gathered stories from across the country hoping to inspire everyday Americans, and maybe American leaders.
'What has surprised me, Colleen, about politics is it seems as though too many of these folks are just interested in their own political hides and not the country,' he said.
Kasich worries about the Trump tariffs, what's happening in Ukraine, and the failure of lawmakers on both sides of the aisle to stand against it. Kasich was known to stand up for what he believed in, even in the face of angry opposition like the controversial Senate Bill 5 attempt to block collective bargaining for public employees.
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'Or when I expanded Medicaid, it created a hubbub,' he said. ''You know, he's a Republican and he's an and, you know, what's he doing there, expanding things.' and it didn't matter to me. This is what I needed to do when I fought my own party on a number of things. That's why I was there to accomplish something. I look at a lot of people today and I say, I asked them, 'Why are you there?' Or ask themselves, 'Why am I here just to be a political operative working for a party?' I'm a Republican, but it was my vehicle and not my master. So I've been a little surprised that we haven't seen more people sort of speak out and go their own way, even if it cost them an election.'
The last American balanced budget was hammered out by President Bill Clinton and House budget leader Kasich in 1997. He says it's time for today's leaders to make tough decisions.
'And that's back to what is your purpose, what are you trying to do, and it's okay to be a leader,' Kasich said. 'It's okay for people to be mad at you. You know, a leader walks a lonely road, but over time, if it's just, people will come. This has to happen. Colleen, I'm, I'm, I'm just begging people to understand it. It has to happen before we end up in a catastrophic situation.'
Kasich is a political analyst for CNN as well as a best-selling author.
For more on Colleen Marshall's interview with the former governor, tune in to The Spectrum this Sunday at 10 a.m.
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