OPINION:
The mainstream media must be getting scared.
The New York Times has spent the last week going after Sen. Marco Rubio, first with a piece on his driving record, and then another on his spending habits. Now, NBC News is going after another rising Republican presidential candidate, Ohio Gov. John Kasich.
“He could be a top contender for the GOP nomination. But first, he might want to get people to stop calling him a jerk,” NBC says in a story written by Perry Bacon Jr.
“In private settings and sometimes even in public ones, Kasich is known to be brusque, confrontational and dismissive of others’ views, even fellow conservatives.”
The article quotes Fred Barnes, executive editor of the Weekly Standard, as saying Kasich could be the GOP nominee if “he stops acting somewhat like a jerk.” Then they turn to a former colleague (and, apparently, foe) from Kasich’s days in the House.
“His mannerisms, his expressions, his sarcasm, etc. can be off-putting at times,” said Mark Souder, a former Indiana congressman.
The piece calls Kasich “a more moderate conservative in the Jeb Bush mold,” and notes that he is a supporter of Common Core and backs a path to legalization for illegal aliens.
“But Kasich’s personality is already emerging as an issue. After the Ohio governor met with journalists from the Concord Monitor last week, the New Hampshire paper noted, “the prickly Republican began with a tone of irritability.”
“Fifty minutes into the interview, Kasich suggested that he was bored, even though a key part of his campaign strategy is winning in New Hampshire, where voters are more moderate.
” ’I’m getting ready to be done with this,’ he told the reporters. ’Are we getting close?’ “
Like the New York Times did with Chris Christie and the Bridgegate scandal, then the Rubio pieces, the MSM is looking to take down top contenders — in this case, even before he Kasich has announced if he’ll even run for president.
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