How would President Kasich be doing right now?

[fruitofstardew]

What would his response to Covid look like? What would his 2020 numbers look like? Who would the Dems nominate against him?

[Fuzzy Bear]

He probably would not have instituted the travel ban in a timely manner. 

Whatever he's doing, the GOP would be saying it was great, and the Democrats would be giving him an F grade.

[SaneDemocrat]

55ish precent approval based on Coronavirus response

Similar numbers to Obama overall

[ProgressiveModerate]

He would be in a much better spot than Trump to win re-election with much higher approval

[Tekken_Guy]

I think Kasich would have had a DeWine-level response on a national scale and would be expected to cruise to re-election.

[Paul Biya isn’t going far enough]

I think Kasich would have had a DeWine-level response on a national scale and would be expected to cruise to re-election.

If Kasich actually did a nationwide DeWine response, I would be more than willing to vote for him, especially if I don’t like his opponent much.

[Paul Biya isn’t going far enough]

He probably would not have instituted the travel ban in a timely manner. 

Whatever he's doing, the GOP would be saying it was great, and the Democrats would be giving him an F grade.

Do you ever get tired of being a Trump stooge?
More people have died from the virus than the entire Vietnam War, you can’t be seriously even trying to defend the president’s response. Plus, most of our cases came from Italy, why didn’t Trump ban travel from Italy when they had the first signs of an outbreak?

[Lief 🗽]

70-80% approval rating, on course for easy re-election.

[Health Over Wealth]

I actually think he'd win the popular vote here.

[darklordoftech]

“Electability” and racism wouldn’t be as big issues in the Democratic primaries and “return to Obama”, “return to normal”, etc. wouldn’t resonate as much.

[Galeel]

Most of the big names would have stayed out of the Primary I bet. I could see Bernie being the nominee in this case. Kasich would probably be pretty popular, especially because of COVID, and would likely win by a pretty large amount.

[AltWorlder]

Scenario is unknown without figuring out Congressional composition

[andjey]

He probably would be reelected in landslide due to his coronavirus response. And Biden and Sanders wouldn't run

[Kleine Scheiße]

He would have responded just fine and would be very favored for re-election. He would make a few consequential mistakes along the way which Democrats would grill him for but by-and-large it'd be agreed that the response was sufficient.

[Doomer]

Kasich is BY FAR more of a unifier than Trump could ever hope to be.

Trump is polarizing; Kasich is not.

Obviously, Democrats would be against him still, because that's just politics, but it'd be nowhere near the level it is with Trump (which extends beyond simple political differences)--Kasich is nothing at all like Trump.  Kasich would work with both sides, he would be willing to extend an olive branch, and he would be thoughtful when addressing the American people.  He wouldn't attack the media at every turn or encourage violence and unrest the way Trump does.

Of important note, Kasich would not deny the simple science behind viruses, nor the virus's presence, nor downplay its severity.  He wouldn't have cut the CDC's budget or fired the team designed to deal with pandemics.  He would show common sense in both reassuring economic security and public health but also knowing what is best for the greater good.  He would have smart people around him and in cabinet positions heading things up on the epidemiological front and he wouldn't ignore their advice.

There are still respectable Republicans, but they can't get elected to higher office anymore because their electorate are all idiots.

[Kleine Scheiße]

Kasich is BY FAR more of a unifier than Trump could ever hope to be.

Trump is polarizing; Kasich is not.

Obviously, Democrats would be against him still, because that's just politics, but it'd be nowhere near the level it is with Trump (which extends beyond simple political differences)--Kasich is nothing at all like Trump.  Kasich would work with both sides, he would be willing to extend an olive branch, and he would be thoughtful when addressing the American people.  He wouldn't attack the media at every turn or encourage violence and unrest the way Trump does.

Of important note, Kasich would not deny the simple science behind viruses, nor the virus's presence, nor downplay its severity.  He wouldn't have cut the CDC's budget or fired the team designed to deal with pandemics.  He would show common sense in both reassuring economic security and public health but also knowing what is best for the greater good.  He would have smart people around him and in cabinet positions heading things up on the epidemiological front and he wouldn't ignore their advice.

There are still respectable Republicans, but they can't get elected to higher office anymore because their electorate are all idiots.

More sure than anything else, President John Kasich would not seize emergency medical equipment from the states and fire government watchdogs for reporting shortages.

[Calgacus]

He might do a better job at "Coronavirus unification" but he's also significantly more likely to have started a pointless and stupid war. So probably considerably worse on balance.

[Stranger in a strange land]

He probably would not have instituted the travel ban in a timely manner. 

Whatever he's doing, the GOP would be saying it was great, and the Democrats would be giving him an F grade.

Do you ever get tired of being a Trump stooge?
More people have died from the virus than the entire Vietnam War, you can’t be seriously even trying to defend the president’s response. Plus, most of our cases came from Italy, why didn’t Trump ban travel from Italy when they had the first signs of an outbreak?

There was community spread in the U.S. in December (and possibly even earlier). The Travel Bans did basically nothing.

[Gass3268]

He probably would not have instituted the travel ban in a timely manner. 

Whatever he's doing, the GOP would be saying it was great, and the Democrats would be giving him an F grade.

It's amazing how folks think the travel ban was all that important. By the time the ban was put in place, it was already too late.

[Kingpoleon]

Kurdistan: Forging an alliance between the Syrian National Council and Rojava, Kasich would have supported them against Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, ISIS, and Assad. Unknown result.
Climate change: Does not withdraw from the Paris Agreement.
Coronavirus: Pretty competent, but receives criticism from some Democrats for not mandating a national lockdown.

[cris01us]

Kasich would be like H.W. 2.0.  I doubt, as some say, he would have "started a war", especially with war weariness being so high in the nation (circa 2016 to now).  He'd have likely lost Congressional seats in the midterm, just as most Presidents do (but not as many as Trump did).  He would not have been as aggressive on appointing judges, or getting rid of government regulations, or trade, or a host of other issues.  That all would have been "business as normal".  There would have been no border wall discussion, and thus the whole immigration issue would have pressed on fairly status quo (W. and Obama style) with the exception of supporting a pathway for the Dreamers.  The market may not have soared to such heights, but that is extremely hard to speculate.  Military spending would have been pretty much the same, but no troops along the southwest border.  There would not have been a push or debate, at least as serious as it was, on the ACA.  The Trump tax cuts might have been the same, but there is room for debate there as well.

Indeed it may very well have felt like a "return to normal", but only by the current 2016 - to now, standards of what we now think as normal.  In the Kasich led world there would likely be more "occupy wall-street" type outrage, and a revisit to issues from that time.  Above all, he certainly would have done better in the past three years and be facing a much less tough path to reelection than Trump is.  Certainly the nation would not be as politically diametrically opposed and entrenched as it is now.  --- It's kind of hard to see "Mr. Belding" being divisive.

[Libertas Vel Mors]

Hopefully getting primaried from the right

[Pollster]

I'm generally wary of "Kasich would be unbeatable in 2020 because moderate and good economy!!!!" takes but if a DeWine-style response was implemented, Kasich would be unbeatable in 2020.

[Non Swing Voter]

He'd be doing a better job than the circus clown currently in office.

his approval rating would probably be in the mid 50's. 

Democrats would have probably nominated someone younger like Buttigieg. 

Democrats nominated Biden because he was the safe choice that reminds them of what Presidents should behave like, i.e., not the freak show in office now.

[Mister Mets]

He'd be doing a better job than the circus clown currently in office.

his approval rating would probably be in the mid 50's. 

Democrats would have probably nominated someone younger like Buttigieg. 

Democrats nominated Biden because he was the safe choice that reminds them of what Presidents should behave like, i.e., not the freak show in office now.

Biden also had the advantage of a perceived strength in the rust belt, after close upsets in Michigan, Wisconsin and Pennsylvania.

If he were a Boston-born Senator from Rhode Island, he would not have the same appeal. There would also not be the same level of interest in getting him to run.

On the other hand, he does have a strong and durable appeal to African-American voters.

You could also imagine less interest in inexperienced candidates without Trump in the White House. That would change things for the likes of Buttigieg.