The Patriot Post® · Kasich: Hey, Maybe We Should Consider Garland

It’s no secret solid conservatism isn’t part of Ohio Gov. John Kasich’s DNA. He demonstrated why on CBS’s “Face the Nation” while on the topic of Merrick Garland, the DC Circuit Court of Appeals judge recently nominated by Barack Obama to fill Justice Antonin Scalia’s seat on the Supreme Court. When asked, “As someone who’s talked about unity, would you take a look at Mr. Garland if you were elected president?” Kasich suggested that maybe Garland isn’t such a bad pick after all: “Well, he received, you know, overwhelming support — I think even from Senator Hatch — so of course we’d think about it. The way we’d do it … is we look at a person’s record. I want a conservative who’s not going to make the law, but interpret the law. And somebody of high standing. I don’t care about their peccadilloes from 30 years ago.”

Pay particular attention to the last part and let’s take a five-second crash course. As SCOTUSblog reminds us, “Garland … voted in favor of en banc review of the D.C. Circuit’s decision invalidating the D.C. handgun ban, which the Supreme Court subsequently affirmed.” Hot Air observes, “This is either a sign of significant weakness regarding gun rights on Kasich’s part or a demonstration of absolute clueless behavior.” Kasich also appeared on NBC’s “Meet the Press,” where he said Republicans “should be thanking me for staying in [the presidential race], because if Trump had won Ohio, it’d be over!” Perhaps he’s equally clueless when it comes to the GOP field rankings, but Ohio is Kasich’s only victory so far, and he sits at a distant third place behind Ted Cruz and Donald Trump in delegates and is mathematically eliminated from winning the nomination outright. He also garnered just enough votes to keep Cruz from winning several states (like Missouri and North Carolina). Besides playing spoiler, his latest comments give conservatives another reason to send him packing.