Ohio's Kasich: "The enthusiasm is with Republicans"

(CBS News) The fight for Ohio has been a central battle in the final weeks of the presidential race. The Buckeye State's Republican governor, John Kasich, joined "CBS This Morning" on Monday and talked about the possible outcomes in his state on Election Day.

Speaking to President Obama's several-point lead in recent polls, Kasich took issue with judging the race based on polls alone. "It's the way you do. God created pollsters to make astrologers look accurate. You don't want to overindulge in the polls." Still, he took the opportunity to add that, "The Romney internal polling shows that we're still slightly ahead...there's such intensity on the Republican side."

Kasich likened Tuesday's vote to when Ronald Reagan challenged President Carter in 1980. "I don't foresee Obama winning big...this is sort of like Reagan-Carter," he said. "People were saying Carter was going to win and 'Oh my goodness, how did Reagan do this?' Romney has been consistently ahead, even when it's gotten very close...Romney stayed ahead...With these undecided voters, they tend to break against the incumbent."

Turning to the auto bailout which took place under the Obama administration, Kasich stopped short of praising the president for saving jobs in Ohio. Ohio currently has an unemployment rate of 7 percent -- below the national average of 7.8 percent, and the lowest number the state has seen in four years.

Kasich explained that information technology and health care have been the fastest growing sectors in Ohio in recent months, and credited Republican leadership with adding 112,000 jobs in his home state. "What I've heard is that people give the Republicans in Ohio...they say things have really dramatically improved since they've been in. I'm thrilled with the fact that we have a strong auto industry in the state." Kasich added that 400-500 of  the total 112,000 new jobs are in the auto industry. He did refute Romney campaign ad claims that Chrysler is shipping jobs from Ohio to China and said, "Chrysler is one of the auto makers that has increased employment [in Ohio]."

Looking ahead to Tuesday's election, Kasich ended on an optimistic note, telling the "CBS This Morning" co-hosts, "If you were out here on the ground...the enthusiasm is really with Republicans."

For more on provisional voting in Ohio and for Kasich's thoughts on whether the Ohio vote could ultimately be decided in court, watch the video above.