Ohio Governor John Kasich: Obamacare is here to stay

10/20/14 06:51 PM
By Ned Resnikoff

“Repeal and replace” has been a Republican mantra for nearly as long as Obamacare has been in existence. Yet one of the GOP’s rumored 2016 front-runners isn’t playing along.

Ohio Gov. John Kasich, who is expected to cruise to reelection this year and then seek the Republican nomination in 2016, recently told the Associated Press that repealing the Affordable Care is “not gonna happen.”

“The opposition to it was really either political or ideological,” he said. “I don’t think that holds water against real flesh and blood, and real improvements in people’s lives.”

Kasich is one of a handful of Republican governors, including some other rumored presidential candidates, who have agreed to expand Medicaid in their states under provisions of the Affordable Care Act. Some have paid a higher price than others: Indiana Gov. Mike Pence, another possible 2016 contender, has been hard at work wooing major conservative groups like Americans For Prosperity, but he’s still taking substantial heat from the right for his own plan to expand Indiana’s Medicaid program.

But Kasich – who currently enjoys a 22-point lead over his Democratic challenger according to the Real Clear Politics average of Ohio gubernatorial race polls – appears to be unconcerned.

http://www.msnbc.com/msnbc/john-kasi...care-here-stay