GOP 2016 New Hampshire

Ohio Gov. John Kasich speaks Saturday at the Republican Leadership Summit in Nashua, N.H.

(Jim Cole, The Associated Press)

John Kasich tackles issues such as gay marriage as he expands his presidential exploration. Read on in today's Ohio Politics Roundup.

Debuting today: We're ratcheting up our 2016 coverage on cleveland.com. With the Republican National Convention scheduled to land here 15 months from this week, we're launching web pages to track each of the major GOP presidential contenders.

Stephen Koff of the Northeast Ohio Media Group is your guide.

"These pages, branching off from cleveland.com's expanding RNC-2016 section, will have links that provide brief biographies and notable moments in the candidates' public lives," Koff writes. "Another feature will give the candidate's positions on key issues, with details that will expand as the primary season draws nearer."

John Kasich, wedding guest: "When asked if he would attend a same-sex wedding -- Kasich is opposed to gay and lesbian nuptials -- he said his friend just invited him to one and he and his wife are planning to go," CNN's Sara Murray reports.

"My friend knows how I feel about the issue, but I'm not here to have a war with him," Kasich said. "I care about my friend, and so it's pretty simple for me."

Gay marriage is banned by constitutional amendment in Ohio.

The interview comes as Republican presidential questions field more direct and personal questions about their position on gay rights. And it comes as Kasich, Ohio's Republican governor, moves ever closer to joining that GOP field. The CNN piece was among the national coverage Kasich picked up over the weekend as he visited the early primary states of New Hampshire and South Carolina and appeared on "Meet the Press."

Pamphleteers against Kasich: "[T]hose attending the Greenville County Republican Convention returned to their cars only to find a half-page yellow flier tucked under their windshield wipers echoing some of the same complaints Ohio Tea Party members have tossed at Kasich," the Columbus Dispatch's Jessica Wehrman reports from South Carolina. The flier read: "Why is Governor John Kasich Pushing Obama's Agenda?"

Reviews from New Hampshire: Kasich was among nearly 20 White House prospects to address the First in the Nation Republican Leadership Summit in Nashua. He told the crowd he's "trying to figure out what the Lord wants me to do with my life."

Mark Halperin, the preeminent campaign-chronicling analyst with Bloomberg Politics, graded Kasich's performance a B. "Best moment: Sold his record in Ohio without bragging or short-changing his accomplishments, or their relevance to Washington -- which is his core message," Halperin writes. "Worst moment: His narrative about being chair of the House Budget Committee was an antiseptic, long-winded waste of time."

Writes Patrick Healy of the New York Times: "Kasich spent more than one-third of his time reciting his biography as if reading a Wikipedia entry. Much of the audience fell into a deep silence." The reception to Kasich's speech? "Polite interest at best."

Kasich's case against Jeb Bush: "I have more experience than anybody in the field," he told "Meet the Press" moderator Chuck Todd. "That's really what I have that stands out. I don't just talk about what I want to do. I can tell people what I've done."

Meanwhile, in Cleveland: Retired neurosurgeon Ben Carson, one of the few GOP prospects not in New Hampshire, headlined the Cuyahoga County Republican Party's Lincoln Day dinner Saturday at the Renaissance Cleveland Hotel.

"I am not politically correct, so don't be surprised," Carson told a capacity crowd of about 600, who gathered precisely 15 months before the start of the Republican National Convention, which will be held a few paces away, at The Q.

Carson backs Rob Portman: Following the dinner, the Cuyahoga GOP announced that Carson had endorsed U.S. Sen. Rob Portman's re-election bid. Portman, a Republican from Cincinnati, spoke briefly at the event before heading to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame induction ceremony at nearby Public Auditorium. The endorsement will strike some as surprising, given Carson's controversial comments about homosexuality being a lifestyle choice and Portman's support for gay marriage after learning his son is gay.

"I want to see Rob Portman reelected to the U.S. Senate and encourage Ohio voters to join his campaign and keep the Senate in Republican control," Carson told attendees at a VIP reception before the dinner, according to the Cuyahoga County GOP.

Portman and Ted Strickland talk trade: "The contrast between the political foes was noteworthy not only for the stylistic differences -- Strickland is given to the rabble-rousing, populist stump speech while Portman prefers the cerebral, symposium route," reports NEOMG's Koff. "The contrast is also noteworthy because this particular issue -- foreign trade -- is coming to a head quickly in Washington."

More criticism of Ohio Democratic Party's Strickland endorsement: "By ignoring a body of precedent to the contrary and awarding Strickland an early endorsement, the Democrats come off as thuggish bullies heading into an election where it's conceivable that support from Ohio's young people will determine who wins the presidency," writes Brent Larkin for NEOMG. "What's more, the whole notion of young people needing to stand in line until it's their turn to seek high office is preposterous on its face."

Adds Howard Wilkinson of WVXU FM/91.7 in Cincinnati, home to Strickland primary rival P.G. Sittenfeld: "[Thirteen] months before the election, the party endorsed then-Cuyahoga County Executive Ed FitzGerald as the party's candidate for governor, thus shutting out all potential competition. And it doomed Hamilton County commissioner Todd Portune's late effort to build a campaign to challenge FitzGerald in a primary. The result: One of the worst run campaigns in the history of Ohio politics ... ."

Speaking of FitzGerald: "A new lawsuit filed in the Ohio Supreme Court against Cuyahoga County and former Sheriff Frank Bova seeks any incident records related to former County Executive Ed FitzGerald," reports NEOMG's Robert Higgs.

"The suit asks for an order from the Ohio Supreme Court to force release of 'all offense or incident reports in the possession, custody or control of the Cuyahoga County Sheriff's Office in which Edward FitzGerald was identified in any of the following capacities: (i) reportee; (ii) complainant; or (iii) victim.'" (If your memory needs refreshing ...)

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