Ohio Gov. John Kasich accused Hillary Clinton of "demagoguery" Friday over a lawsuit filed against his state's voting rules, saying she should pick on another state, such as her own, where voters have far fewer days to cast a ballot.
"If she wants to sue somebody, let them sue New York," Kasich told
Fox News' "America's Newsroom" program. "We have 27 days of voting. In New York, the only voting that occurs is on Election Day. What is she talking about?"
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On Thursday in Houston, Clinton accused potential
Republican presidential rivals Jeb Bush, Scott Walker, Chris Christie and Rick Perry of being governors in states that have passed laws making it more difficult for Americans to vote.
She called them members of a GOP group that have cut the numbers of days set aside for early voting and have demanded voter ID laws.
Kasich's state of Ohio, meanwhile, was named along with Walker's Wisconsin by Democrats in a legal challenge over voting changes. While Clinton's campaign is not officially involved in the lawsuits, one of the attorneys involved is Marc Elias, her campaign's general counsel.
Kasich said Friday that he likes Clinton personally, as she has been kind to him, "but the idea that we are going to divide Americans and use demagoguery, I don't like it."
He further called the idea of coming into Ohio and saying the state is trying to suppress the vote "silliness."
"Don't be running around the country dividing Americans," said Kasich. "Don't come in and say we are trying to keep people from voting when her own state has less opportunity for voting. She is going to sue my state? That's just silly."
Ohio has multiple days for voting, Kasich again pointed out, adding: "In New York, where she is from, they have one day. Why don't you take care of business at home before you run around the country using these demagogic statement that we don't want people to vote?"
Meanwhile, Kasich told Fox that he hasn't selected a date about announcing a campaign for the White House, and while he's "extremely optimistic," he doesn't want to "waste everybody's time" on a campaign if there isn't a good chance of winning the race.
But he's not worried that he's not yet showing up in the nation's polls, or scoring very low rates.
"Even Barack Obama and Bill Clinton didn't register in early polls," said Kasich. "That's why you have primaries. I think national polls at this point are not relevant."
He's also said matters have changed as far as the challenge presented by former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush, even though "the guy has got a lot of money."
"I figured he would have all the money and all the support," said Kasich. "It hasn't turned out that way. That's not a hit on Jeb. I don't want to get into a race that I can't win."
But now the field is wide open, said Kasich, and "nobody is making a final decision on anything."
"I thought I wouldn't be in this, but at the end of the day if I can win, it's likely I'll move forward," Kasich said. "If I can't win, I won't. I am enjoying myself and I'm able to talk about my vision for the country and how we can be part of making America better."
Sandy Fitzgerald ✉
Sandy Fitzgerald has more than three decades in journalism and serves as a general assignment writer for Newsmax covering news, media, and politics.
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