Kasich as president? ‘Unbelievable,’ Democrat says | McClatchy Washington Bureau

Democrats wasted no time Tuesday blasting away at Ohio Gov. John Kasich.

Kasich became the 16th prominent Republican to announce a bid for the party’s presidential nomination. Democrats were ready.

“After seeing firsthand how John Kasich has led Ohio over the last five years, it is unbelievable that he thinks he should be President of the United States,” said Rep. Tim Ryan, D-Ohio.

Kasich boasted of his experience on the state and federal level. Ryan had a different take. “Ohio roads are covered with potholes, our bridges are structurally deficient, water and sewage systems pollute clean water, and this past winter many streets never got plowed because local communities couldn't get old and run down snow plows to work,” he charged. “Governor Kasich has left Ohio eroding from the inside out.”

In Washington, where Kasich was a congressman from 1983 to 2001, Democratic National Committee Chair Debbie Wasserman Schultz had views similar to Ryan’s.

Kasich Tuesday talked about how he wanted to keep the American dream alive, and talked about the struggles many African-Americans face. Wasserman Schultz was not impressed.

“John Kasich is simply out of touch with today’s middle class and working Americans. Adding insult to injury, he brings more of the same divisive rhetoric and policies that are already prevalent among his fifteen fellow contenders, which is the last thing America needs,” she said.