Kasich Says GOP Must ‘Stop Mr. Trump,’ But Resists ‘Name-Calling’ Strategy

Ohio Gov. John Kasich said here Thursday that the Republican Party must stop Donald Trump from becoming the presidential nominee, but urged party leaders to resist the kind of full assault that Mitt Romney delivered.

About an hour after Romney delivered a sweeping indictment of Trump, Kasich told reporters that he disagreed with the 2012 Republican presidential nominee’s approach to the billionaire mogul front-runner.

“I already told Mitt that I don’t think you beat Trump by personal attacks. The guy in Chicopee is not interested in name-calling,” Kasich said, referring to a working-class town in Western Massachusetts, where Trump drew deep support in Tuesday’s primary.

Kasich added, “Mitt’s a good guy. He’s very troubled about the direction of the country.”

Kasich said at a news conference in Detroit that “it is important that we stop Mr. Trump,” but he said that could be accomplished by drawing contrasts with him on policy and record rather than character and personality.

“I think the notion that you can beat Trump by calling him names, I don’t think you get there that way,” Kasich said. “I’m not going there that way, and I’m not using that kind of rhetoric.”

Referring to attacks leveled recently at Trump by Sen. Marco Rubio of Florida, Kasich said, “I don’t want to talk about the size of his hands or what kind of a tan he has. That’s not the way to get this done.”

Kasich vowed to win the March 15 primary in his home state of Ohio and predicted that the nominating contest would go all the way to the Republican National Convention in July in Cleveland.

“We will go all-out, and I will win Ohio,” Kasich said. “If I win Ohio, then we’re probably going to go to a convention. . . . It’s going to be the most exciting time.”

Kasich notched strong second-places finishes in the New Hampshire and Vermont primaries, but otherwise has struggled to break out nationally in a race dominated by Trump. The governor complained about the lack of media attention his campaign has attracted.

“This has become an awful lot about eyeballs,” Kasich said. “I’m not here to blame the press. I like the press, I’ve worked with the press.” But, he added, “I’ve never really gotten the opportunity to be heard in this country.”

Indeed, as a Kasich aide pointed out on Twitter, Kasich’s news conference was preempted on cable news by one being held at the same time by New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, who is no longer a candidate but merely a Trump surrogate.