Kasich: Iowa 'clearly important' in GOP race

SIOUX CITY, Ia. — Ohio Gov. John Kasich says Iowa is "clearly important" in the Republican presidential race and he plans to visit more regularly as his campaign intensifies for the Republican presidential nomination.

"We will be here as often as we can. It is all an allocation of resources and time," Kasich told The Des Moines Register during a weekend visit to Sioux City and Council Bluffs. He's made one-day campaign trips to Iowa each month since June. He will be back Wednesday for stops in Davenport and Cedar Rapids for his first campaign visit to eastern Iowa.

"I have a lot of places I want to go, but Iowa is clearly important," Kasich said. "We don't want to show any level of disrespect for the people of this great state. Because it is not only important in the caucuses; it is important in the general election, and so I look forward to being here. The people are awfully nice."

Earlier this month, Kasich's campaign appointed Cory Crowley, a Cedar Rapids native and former aide to U.S. Sen. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, as state director of his Iowa campaign. An NBC/Wall Street Journal poll released Monday shows Kasich with 6 percent nationally, while a RealClearPolitics.com average of four polls in Iowa since late August shows Kasich with 2.8 percent here.

Kasich is reportedly banking heavily on doing well in the Feb. 9 New Hampshire Republican presidential primary, which comes eight days after Iowa's first-in-the nation caucuses on Feb. 1. Asked if he hopes to finish among the top three or the top five in Iowa, he replied, "Oh, I am not going to get into making predictions. The one thing we know about this race is that we don't know what is going to happen tomorrow. I think this thing is the most topsy-turvy, scrambled ... but you know, I am just going to do my thing. If it works, great. If it doesn't, great."

The governor said the issues appear to be the same in every state where he's been campaigning. People are concerned about rebuilding the nation's military, balancing the federal budget and similar policy matters, which he believes helps his candidacy because of his experience as a governor and a former U.S. House Budget Committee chairman.

"I also find a growing number of people who are worried about the inability of people to compromise to accomplish anything. I am hearing it more and more everywhere I go. They are getting drowned out by the people who yell, 'Stand for something. Fight. Fight." I am hearing increasingly, 'How do we get people to work together? How do we solve this?" I am picking that theme up everywhere I go."

Kasich, who served 18 years in Congress, also said he doesn't like the fact that fellow Ohio politician John Boehner announced plans last week to resign as House speaker and leave Congress.

"Boehner is a friend of mine. He worked with me on the Contract with America. We balanced the budget. We reformed welfare. His record last year was 94 percent conservative," Kasich said. "But, you know, that is the inner workings of the House. The one thing you know when you become speaker is that the day will come when you are not speaker. So we will see how it all settles down and who they put in his place."

Kasich called being speaker a "terrible job" because he believes the person has no leverage or real authority. "You just have to use compelling arguments. I think being speaker for five years is a long time and I know his (Boehner's) wife breathed a big sign of relief when he decided to move on."