Even with only seven people on the prime-time stage, Ohio Gov. John Kasich apparently faded into the background for many who reviewed Thursday night's Republican debate near Charleston, S.C. An extensive New York Times running blog referred to him only a couple of times. A Washington Post compilation of winners and losers didn't include the Ohio governor as either.

Even with only seven people on the prime-time stage, Ohio Gov. John Kasich apparently faded into the background for many who reviewed Thursday night�s Republican debate near Charleston, S.C.

An extensive New York Times running blog referred to him only a couple of times. A Washington Post compilation of winners and losers didn�t include the Ohio governor as either.

A similar list from CNN said only: �John Kasich was also present last night � and that sums up his performance.�

USA Today kissed him off by saying �a trio of governors � former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush, New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie and Ohio Gov. John Kasich � pushed for equal time.�

The totality of ABC News� analysis on Kasich: �Bush and John Kasich, who both tried out attack-Trump strategies at earlier debates, were mostly back to touting their gubernatorial leadership.�

Politico�s 12 biggest moments of the debate included everyone but Kasich.

The debate drew 11.1 million viewers to Fox Business Network, according to the Nielsen ratings company.

It was the sixth debate for the GOP in this election cycle and the least-watched so far.

Interestingly, the day after the debate, fact-checkers found several overt misstatements among the quartet generally deemed the debate�s best performers: reality-TV star Donald Trump, Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas, Sen. Marco Rubio of Florida and Christie.

Some of those examining how well the Ohio governor did say he is ill-suited both for a debate format and for a campaign in which outrage and bombast seemingly are rewarded.

A National Journal column acknowledged that Kasich was not in the top four of the debate because �politics these days is more about performance than policy.�

Mark Halperin of Bloomberg News said Kasich �showed improvement as a debater and in presenting the distinguished record of which he is proud, but (is) still not a good fit for the challenges of a cacophonous debate stage.�

The Hill said, �Like Bush, he committed no real gaffes, but he delivered no memorable moments, either. He needed more.�

Of course, even sympathetic critics say Kasich did himself no favors at times, such as when he talked about the Cold War era or name-dropped former New Mexico Sen. Pete Domenici � not to mention a pander to South Carolina segregationist Strom Thurmond.

�John Kasich tells more �back in my day� rocking-chair stories than me or anyone I know, and I was born during the Coolidge administration,� tweeted 89-year-old former Rep. John Dingell.

But the Michigan Democrat added, �These things having been said, he�s a nice fella who often appears to be the most levelheaded of the lot. He just enjoys telling a story.�

Of course, the Kasich team had its own take on the two-hour-plus event.

In a fundraising missive the day after the debate, Kasich�s chief campaign strategist, John Weaver, said, �While the other candidates squabbled with each other and used heated rhetoric, Gov. John Kasich was articulate about his positive vision for a stronger America, he was on-message and he proved once again why he�s ready to be president on Day One.�

The bottom line is that � while a breakout moment would have been nice for the Ohio governor � most reviewers say the invisible debate appearance won�t hurt him with his prime objective of doing well in the Feb. 9 New Hampshire primary, America�s first.

Kasich did get a boost on Friday with the endorsement of Ohio House Speaker Cliff Rosenberger, who worked in President George W. Bush�s administration as a political coordinator. He also was political-events coordinator for Mitt Romney�s 2008 presidential campaign.

Rosenberger, a Republican from southwestern Ohio, has been speaker for a year. He was scheduled to travel to New Hampshire on Friday to campaign for Kasich.

Other Ohio officials are expected to join Kasich on the campaign trail as well.

drowland@dispatch.com

@darreldrowland





