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Ohio Gov. John Kasich, a Republican presidential candidate, speaks with talk show host Stephen Colbert last November. Kasich appeared again on "Late Night With Stephen Colbert" Wednesday night.

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COLUMBUS, Ohio -- There were some laughs during Ohio Gov. John Kasich's appearance on "The Late Show With Stephen Colbert" on Wednesday. But there was a lot more talk about serious policy.

Kasich, in his second appearance on Colbert's show on CBS, talked about a range of issues, from whether to delay the nomination of a new U.S. Supreme Court justice to problems with the Republican primary debates.

Here are five highlights from the GOP presidential candidate's interview with Colbert:

1. Kasich said Obama's Supreme Court nominee should have an 'overwhelming consensus'

Kasich repeated his stance that President Obama should let his successor nominate a new U.S. Supreme Court justice to replace Antonin Scalia, who died last weekend.

By delaying the nomination until next year, Kasich said, "I think it will be a more orderly, less political fight than what we're seeing now."

Colbert asked Kasich about his earlier comment that if Obama nominates a new justice, it should be someone who has "unanimous approval."

Kasich, inaccurately, corrected Colbert. "I said 'acclaim,'" the governor said, later saying, "I don't mean unanimous. I'm talking about somebody where the overwhelming consensus says that's the person we want. And that isn't going to happen now."

2. Kasich emphasized his positive message

Kasich continued to build his image as a happy warrior, painting himself as a leader who would unite Americans of all political stripes.

"If I can't win by being fundamentally positive, what's the point in winning?" Kasich asked to cheers.

Colbert reeled off a list of Kasich's talking points - "running a different campaign than any other candidate, positive, focused on solving problems..." - in an attempt to preempt him, but it didn't stop Kasich.

"People are getting tired of the negative," Kasich said. "You know, in New Hampshire I took..."

"Shut up," Colbert interrupted, drawing a laugh from the crowd.

3. Kasich said the GOP 'is not my master'

Colbert tried to get more details about Kasich's campaign platform, saying "The positive message that I'm hearing so far is that 'I am positive.'"

Kasich replied that he favors balancing budgets, "common-sense regulations," and cutting taxes.

Colbert skeptically asked whether "some regulations are OK" to Kasich as a Republican.

"The Republican party is my vehicle - it is not my master," Kasich replied, winning vocal approval from the audience.

"Boom, I got a mic drop on that one," Colbert said, dropping a pen on his desk.

4. Kasich trashed the GOP debates

Asked about the Republican presidential debates, Kasich wasn't very positive.

"The debates are the dumbest thing going," he said. "Look, it's sort of like explaining your entire life story in 30 seconds. I mean, Harry Truman couldn't get elected this way."

Kasich later continued: "It's sound bites. And, you know, how are you going to elect a president on the basis of a clever sound bite, particularly if the sound bite is designed to attack somebody else?"

"The thing I love," Kasich said, "is a town hall."

5. New Hampshire is Kasich's 'rocket ship'

Kasich said that when he first appeared on Colbert's show last November, "not a person had a clue who I was."

Colbert quickly cut in: "I knew - they told me right before you walked on."

After finishing a strong second in New Hampshire, though, Kasich's star is rising.

Asked by Colbert, "How is losing winning?" Kasich replied, "What happened is New Hampshire's a place where you can kind of get on a rocket ship and become known."

But even now that he's campaigning in South Carolina, Kasich said he's not altering his campaign theme.

"They told me that when you leave New Hampshire and you go to South Carolina, everything has to change, your message has to change," he said. "My message hasn't changed one iota - bringing people together."