Chrissie Thompson

The Cincinnati Enquirer

John Kasich is using his starkest terms yet to distinguish himself from Donald Trump, as the Republican primary moves to states where Kasich has his best — and, perhaps, final — shot of consolidating the anti-Trump forces.

Politicians who take approaches such as Trump's "feed their own insatiable desires for fame and for attention," Kasich said Tuesday in New York City. "That could drive America down into a ditch and not make America great again."

Kasich was careful in his speech Tuesday not to name the GOP front-runner, but his critiques of "disturbing" individual policies made it clear Trump was the target of his speech.

"A political strategy based on exploiting Americas instead of lifting them up inevitably leads to division, paranoia," Kasich said. "This path to darkness is the antithesis of all that American has meant for the last 240 years."

The battle to deny Donald Trump the GOP nomination: How '2nd primary' for delegates works

The Ohio governor is entering two must-perform weeks for his campaign. He trails his rivals, Trump and Texas Sen. Ted Cruz, by several hundred delegates. His presidential hopes rest on a bid to carry on until the GOP convention in July in Cleveland, where he hopes to win over GOP votes in the case that no one wins a majority of delegates during state-by-state primaries.

But to make it to Cleveland, Kasich must build on his delegate total, giving voters and, more importantly, donors the impression that he has a chance to pull off the convention win. He also needs to finish ahead of Cruz in some states, calling into question the Texas senator's burgeoning status as the alternative to Trump.

Kasich convention guru outlines messy fight

John Kasich's 'long-shot' bid to get delegates to the Republican convention

Moderate, urban voters in New York, which votes next week, and in several other East Coast states, which vote April 26, offer Kasich his best chance of gaining some momentum. In New York, for instance, Kasich is fighting to stay ahead of Cruz, with both candidates polling around 20%, while Trump leads polls with about 54% in his home state.

To that end, Kasich's political action committee and campaign are running commercials in New York and Pennsylvania, despite already low bank accounts. Kasich's speech Tuesday, given to the Women's National Republican Club and livestreamed by several news outlets, also offered the cash-strapped campaign half an hour in free exposure in the media-obsessed state of New York.