Kasich lobs attacks at Jeb Bush
CONCORD, New Hampshire -- For the first time since entering the presidential race, John Kasich is going after rival Jeb Bush.
Kasich mocked Bush for "trailing in places like New Hampshire" and "not doing so hot in other places" and implied that Bush was an "administrator," rather than a leader.
The Ohio Republican's attack, came in response to a reporter's question about Bush super Pac operatives camped out in the library that holds Kasich's papers from his time as congressman and governor, a story first reported by Reuters.
Of the suburban library, in Westerville, Ohio, Kasich said, "I love that people visit that library," Kasich joked at the press conference, "I just never expected Bush people to be directed to that library, but they are saying they are having a lovely time, and I just hope when they are there they spend some money in Westerville."
Kasich thinks it shows the Bush campaign is "getting nervous."
"When you're trailing in places like New Hampshire where John Sununu has built a great team, you're not doing so hot in other places, of course they are gonna go looking around at who might be the mature adult who knows how to reform and fix things and be a leader, rather than an administrator."
Paul Lindsay, the spokesman for Bush's super Pac, Right to Rise, fired back, saying, "We don't understand why Governor Kasich is so upset at anyone looking at his public congressional record and positions on issues." He added, "We love Westerville and highly recommend the breakfast at the Fairfield Inn."
During a second event Friday afternoon at a town hall in Goffstown, NH, Kasich again went after Bush, this time, unprompted. A questioner began to say to Kasich, "On the armed services committee you were known as a cheap hawk," prompting him to interrupt, "how do you know that?"
"It's on your website," the man replied. Kasich then joked, "I thought you were in the library with the Bush people." His audience laughed.
"Come on Jeb, you have better things to do than to investigate me!" Kasich exclaimed, before pausing and continuing, "Then again, maybe you don't."
His comments also come a day after an old video surfaced of then Congressman Kasich criticizing George H.W. Bush's chief of staff John Sununu, the father of former Senator John Sununu, who is Kasich's New Hampshire campaign chairman. Late Thursday night Kasich went after the Bush team on twitter.
Until now, Ohio governor has refrained from going after any of his rivals, preferring to emphasize his own record.
"I've got to talk about me," Kasich said on Meet the Press in August.
The jabs at Bush are a marked shift from Kasich's earlier responses when asked about the Floridian.
In August, Kasich denied that he was contrasting his record with Bush's, telling reporters, "just because somebody does something or says something doesn't mean it has a political calculation. I probably ought to be more politically calculated."
Both Bush and Kasich are staking their candidacy in the Granite State, where they're tied. In a CNN/WMUR New Hampshire survey last week, both were in 5th place at 7 percent.