Politico: “Fox platform gives Kasich a boost”

Written by Media Matters Staff

Published

From the March 2 Politico article, titled, “Fox platform gives Kasich a boost”:

John Kasich, who served nine terms in the House before becoming a Fox News host, is now testing whether the revolving door between politics and the media works in both directions.

It clearly goes one way, with many former elected officials having followed a path into cable news. Recently ousted New Jersey Gov. Jon Corzine is now reportedly in talks with CNBC, while former New York Gov. Eliot Spitzer has become an MSNBC regular. And Fox now has a trio of prominent former Republican officials: Mike Huckabee, Sarah Palin and Newt Gingrich.

It's quite possible that one of those three could run for president in 2012. But in the meantime, it is Kasich, host of “Heartland With John Kasich” from 2001 to 2007 and guest host on Fox's “The O'Reilly Factor,” who is running against Democratic Gov. Ted Strickland of Ohio and finding that the old ties to Fox can be very handy.

Since first talking publicly about running for governor in February 2008, Kasich has made more than 25 appearances on Fox News, five of them since formally announcing his candidacy last June. O'Reilly has introduced him as “John Kasich, our man in Ohio,” while Fox's Sean Hannity talks up the “future governor of the great state of Ohio.” Gingrich spoke favorably of Kasich as a candidate while appearing on “The O'Reilly Factor,” the night before Ohio newspapers reported that Kasich was filing papers to raise money.

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But it remains to be seen how his national cable news presence plays out locally. Former Fox News analyst Angela McGlowan, now running for Congress in Mississippi, recently told POLITICO that her on-air time could be an asset in the primary. “It helps me with the conservative base,” said McGlowan. “But being associated with Fox News will not win me the election.”

In addition to actively using social networking, Kasich has courted the Republican base beyond “Hannity”: He recently made a minute-long video for RedState that addressed readers of the influential conservative blog.