Former Republican Gov. John Kasich said the nation is at a crossroads and said the stakes are too high to give President Trump another four years in office.
Standing at a literal crossroads, Mr. Kasich, in a pre-taped address to the Democratic National Convention, said the Republican Party has lost its way and said it is time to rally behind presumed Democratic presidential nominee Joseph R. Biden.
“We are being taken down the wrong road by a president who has pitted one against the other,” Mr. Kasich said. “He is unlike all our best leaders before him, who worked to unite us to bridge our differences and lead us to united America.”
Mr. Kasich said he has known Mr. Biden for 30 years and said he is a “man of faith” who understands the “hopes and dreams of the common man and common woman.”
“Joe Biden is a man for our times, times that call for all of us to take off our partisan hats and put our nation first for ourselves and of course for our children,” he said.
Mr. Kasich said that in normal times he could not envision backing Mr. Biden, but said, “these are not normal times.”
“I’m proud of my Republican heritage, it is the party of Lincoln who reflected its founding principles of unity and a higher purpose, but what I have witnessed the past four years belies those principles,” he said.
Mr. Kasich was the most high-profile Republican scheduled to address the Democratic National Convention.
His video appearance followed remarks from three other Republicans who have jumped ship this election: former New Jersey Gov. Christine Christine Todd Whitman, former Hewlett Packard executive Meg Whitman, and former Rep. Susan Molinari of New York.
“This isn’t about Republican or Democrat,” Ms. Whitman said. “It is about a person - a person decent enough, stable enough, strong enough to get our economy back on track. A person who can work with everyone, Democrats, and Republicans to get things done.”
“Donald Trump is not that person, Joe Biden is,” she said.
• Seth McLaughlin can be reached at smclaughlin@washingtontimes.com.
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