In a GOP primary contest defined by racism, xenophobia and a reliance on slogans masquerading as policy, Kasich debated the issues with my editorial board colleagues with knowledge and conviction. Over the course of 90 riveting minutes, he thrust and parried on his economic plan, wages, illegal immigration, Syrian refugees, climate change and voter identification laws.

Kasich’s résumé screams of someone acquainted with the ancient art of governing. First elected governor of the Buckeye State in 2010, he is now in his second term. He served in the House of Representatives from 1983 until 2001. From 1995 until 2001, Kasich was the House budget committee chairman. And all of these experiences inform his inclination to work with others to solve a problem.

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That’s not to say that I agree with everything he had to say. But the expectations bar for presidential candidates has been set so low that a candidate for the Oval Office who answers questions in complete, thoughtful sentences might as well be a unicorn.

A Kasich vs. Clinton match-up would be one for the ages. Two distinct visions of the country from opposite ends of the political spectrum articulated by two smart and passionate candidates. A Kasich general election candidacy would signal a GOP getting serious about what it stands for, about how it would govern this country, about winning. Instead the front-runner for the Republican nomination is Donald Trump, a first-time politician whose presidential candidacy is an affront to everything we are and stand for as a country.

The transcript of our meeting with Kasich will be released later Wednesday. You will be able to read and hear for yourself what a grown-up running to be leader of the free world sounds like. That Kasich cannot gain any traction is a pity for his party — and a boon for Clinton.