Ohio Gov. John Kasich, trying to build on the momentum of his second-place finish in the New Hampshire Republican primary, apparently scored a victory by engaging in a 36-hour campaign sprint across Michigan on Monday and Tuesday.

Acknowledging that his presidential bid has no hope of doing well in the upcoming South Carolina primary, Kasich, the most moderate contender in the GOP field,  took a detour to Michigan as part of his strategy to target the Midwest.

The four town hall-style gatherings he held in the Great Lakes State was the first evidence of the Kasich campaign’s plan to promote his upbeat, affable message in the delegate-rich Midwestern states of Michigan, Ohio and Illinois.

Among other publications, Politico took notice with this Macomb County-based report:

During a stop in Macomb County, Michigan, roughly 40 miles north of Detroit, roughly 500 potential voters crowded into the local Republican County offices in a former Dress Barn store in a strip mall. Voters said they came because they were curious about Kasich’s experience in government as a governor of a neighboring state and as a former House member, where they believed he worked well with others.

“He is more down-to-earth than the other guys who seem to only be in it for the money,” said 64-year-old retired military contractor and Army veteran, Wes Glasgow, who praised Kasich’s tenure in the House, where he worked on budget issues and foreign affairs.

Voters were also attracted to his experience as a governor. “I like what he has done with the state of Ohio. What is Ohio doing right that we are doing wrong here?” said 54-year-old Sue Geren, 54, a waitress from Macomb, Mich.

What sold her on Kasich, ultimately though, was his positive attitude within the GOP field and his lack of name-calling. “Trump is not a politician, and Cruz has too many enemies in the Senate,” Geren added. “He cannot cut deals with people he has angered.”

 

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