WASHINGTON — The John Kasich–John Hickenlooper gubernatorial bromance blew back into D.C. on Wednesday, with Republican Kasich and Democrat Hickenlooper embracing stances that have as of late been verboten to each of their respective parties.

For example: Kasich urged a immigrants to come to Ohio. Hickenlooper, the Colorado governor, offered an impassioned defense of free trade.

The two men have formed a partnership, periodically flying into D.C. to argue for policy solutions on issues such as health care and trade.

On Wednesday, it was a double–header: The two appeared at a Brookings Institution panel on “the future of the middle class” before jointly receiving an award for their bipartisan work from the Center for the Study of the Presidency and Congress.

They’ve appeared together enough that the jokes about them being running mates in 2020 seem a little less far-fetched and a little more plausible. For his part, Kasich said he’s not ruling anything out at this point — nor is he ruling anything in, for that matter.

“It’s great to be here with my running mate,” he joked, generating laughter from the Brookings crowd.

“If I was ever going to run with a Republican,” Hickenlooper countered, “He would be the one I’d run with.”

The two focused on the American workforce and the education system, but occasionally veered into the topical.

Kasich expressed dismay at a picture that ran recently in the New York Times featuring a two–year–old girl in deportation court, saying the country should be “outraged” that a toddler should be in such a situation.

“If you don’t like immigrants here, send them to Ohio,” he said. “Send them here, because they’re productive and hard–working.”

He also called for a “dynamic” change to how the nation educates its students, tossing out the possibility of three days a week in school and two days learning outside the classroom, possibly in a workplace.

“We do what we do today because that’s what we do,” he said. “It’s not acceptable.”

Kasich dismissed the idea that the new U.S.-Mexico-Canada trade agreement would bring back jobs lost to NAFTA.

“If you think the old NAFTA deal was bad and all the jobs are going to be coming back, don’t check under your pillow tonight for the tooth fairy,” he said.

jwehrman@dispatch.com

@jessicawehrman