Two committees supporting Republican Ohio Governor John Kasich’s U.S. presidential candidacy have raised around $11.5 million in two months, Bloomberg reported on Friday.
Kasich, 63, is expected to announce his bid on July 21, joining 14 other candidates already in the race for the Republican nomination for the November 2016 election.
Bloomberg said the sum raised was an encouraging sign for Kasich’s effort, and that the two committees had focused their efforts on large donors rather than grassroots contributions.
There are many who subscribe to the theory that “fringe” candidates in a large presidential primary field are running for Cabinet positions should their party’s nominee prevail in the general election. It’s not an entirely implausible notion but it does discount the massive amount of ego it takes to be a politician. (Side note: I’m an entertainer, so I am definitely not ascribing any pejorative connotation to “ego.”)
What most don’t consider is that there are almost always some well-funded people telling said fringe candidate to run. Sometimes, it’s only one rich person, but when that is coupled with the ego, it is often enough to launch a campaign.
That there is 11+ million dollars floating around out there to support Kasich should dispel the idea that there is a finite pie of money for one party to go after. Paraphrasing the old adage about love, there’s a donor out there for everybody.
To say that Kasich is a long shot would be generous. He is, however, your guy if you’re the kind of Republican who loves Obamacare and Common Core.
So he’s got that going for him.
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