- "Kasich for Ohio" slogan: Don't you know who I am?
It was another rough week on the campaign trail for Republican John Kasich, who is hoping to win Governor Ted Strickland’s job come November. He’s having a hard time explaining chunks of his past — most notably his role with the investment firm Lehman Brothers. The trick is in touting the great value of his experience with the company, while also noting his utter lack of involvement in its spectacular flameout amid the 2008 financial crisis.
As Kasich was set to air his first campaign commercial flaunting his eight-year stint with Lehman, The Columbus Dispatch revealed that while there he had approached yet another state pension fund in hopes of persuading it to move money over to Lehman. This news arrives after Kasich insisted that he had done nothing more than arrange meetings between the two parties.
The Columbus weekly The Other Paper, meanwhile, ran a profile detailing Kasich’s anger issues titled “Does Ohio Need an S.O.B. as Governor?” Apparently, he has a fondness for the classic asshole retort “Don’t you know who I am?” which he allegedly busted out on an unsuspecting 16-year-old grocery store clerk who had the audacity to follow company policy.
Also referenced is a Washington Post story from June 1991 detailing how Kasich had tried to crash the stage at a Grateful Dead concert at RFK Stadium a few days earlier. As the tour manager escorted Kasich away, he shouted that he was a congressman and hinted he could block the band’s future concerts. Kasich has denied the story, but hasn’t offered any explanation.
As for Gov. Strickland: “His campaign spokeswoman confirmed that Strickland himself has never
berated a Grateful Dead bouncer or grocery bagger,” reports The Other Paper. Thanks for clarifying.
