Ohio Governor John Kasich sat down for a one on one interview shortly before his town hall event in Glastonbury and said he knows the odds are stacked against him winning Connecticut.
"People are really just beginning to find out who I am but we’re plugging ahead and we hope we’re going to have a decent finish here,” Kasich told NBC Connecticut.
Kasich is far behind both Donald Trump and Sen. Ted Cruz in the delegate count. In the most recent Quinnipiac University Poll, Kasich trailed Donald Trump by double digits.
He says he tries not to look at polls much during the primary stage. Kasich said GOP voters should look at polls that show how well he fares against Democratic frontrunner Hillary Clinton.
“In 15 straight national polls I beat Hillary Clinton because I can attract people who Republicans don’t always attract and we just have to keep going.”
Even though Kasich's tone is far less forceful than those of his GOP rivals, he tells voters to not mistake him for a moderate. He said he's still conservative.
He said with a GOP Congress he would repeal the Federal Healthcare Law, Obamacare, but said states like Connecticut that have seen success with the expansion of Medicaid for low income residents, could keep that segment. He views Medicaid as a separate element altogether.
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“It won’t affect my decision. States that expanded can keep what they have and those that haven’t will live with what they’ve decided.”
When pressed on whether he will win in Connecticut, Kasich said his eyes are on Cleveland and the Republican National Convention. That's the only victory he's concerned with.
"If I can win delegates to me it will be considered a win and I think we’re going to get some delegates. I can’t predict what’s going to happen. You just move one foot in front of the other, with your eyes focused on Cleveland where we’re going to have an open convention and we’ll see what happens.”
