As the candidate who routinely refers to Jesus’ instruction to care for the poor as the rationale for expanding Medicare and Medicaid, John Kasich is usually a self-righteous moralizer. But he’s also not very self-aware. “This notion that I’m not conservative is the most absurd thing, because even the New York Times says I’m not a moderate,” Kasich said. “I don’t know why I can’t win conservative votes. I don’t know why I wouldn’t be able to win evangelicals. I don’t go out and try to win a vote using God. I think that cheapens God. But people know I’m a man of faith. … I never have felt there was any vote I couldn’t get [emphasis added].”

Perhaps if we parse that to mean he doesn’t, in fact, try to win a vote using God, then that’s a defensible statement. But that doesn’t mean he hasn’t used God to justify expanding government. A year ago, he said, “Now, if you ever read Matthew 25, I think, ‘I wanna feed the hungry and clothe the naked.’ Now, I don’t know whether you ever read Matthew 25, but I commend it to you, the end of it, about do you feed the homeless and do you clothe the poor.” Why did that matter? Because he was defending his agreeing to expand ObamaCare in Ohio. He’s even offered to buy Bibles for people who don’t agree. Maybe all of the above is why he’s not winning any support from conservatives.