Kasich Reportedly Taking First Step for Run in 2000

House Budget Committee chairman John R. Kasich (R-Ohio) plans to file papers today launching a committee to explore a bid for the Republican presidential nomination in 2000, sources close to the congressman said.

An exuberant--if sometimes undisciplined--conservative, Kasich joins a recent cascade of candidates rushing to get an early start on organizing their fund-raising and political support for 2000.

Even though Kasich has played a key role in Republican efforts to cut federal spending, he has much less national name identification than his party’s leading contenders and he has never raised money on the scale required to compete in a presidential campaign. But Kasich, 46, has a fresh, energetic style and a distinctive message that could help him emerge as a wild card in the GOP race.

“Kasich can bring back the Reagan Democrats in droves and he can reach out to younger voters,” insisted GOP consultant Ed Gillespie, who is advising the Ohio congressman.

Kasich--first elected in 1982 from a Columbus-area district--would become the fourth Republican to formally establish a campaign committee for 2000 with the Federal Election Commission. He follows Sens. John McCain (R-Ariz.) and Bob Smith (R-N.H.) and former Tennessee Gov. Lamar Alexander.

Former Vice President Dan Quayle, 1996 hopeful Steve Forbes and social conservative activist Gary Bauer are expected to follow suit shortly. Also examining the race are conservative commentator Patrick J. Buchanan and the two leaders in most polls of Republican voters--Texas Gov. George W. Bush and former American Red Cross President Elizabeth Hanford Dole.

Among Democrats, Vice President Al Gore--the odds-on favorite--and former Sen. Bill Bradley of New Jersey have formed exploratory committees. Bradley on Tuesday took the additional step of filing a statement of candidacy with federal authorities and moving into a new campaign headquarters in West Orange, N.J.

In the GOP field, Kasich would stand out both in his personal style (he probably is the only acknowledged fan of the Grateful Dead among the prospective candidates) and in a message that blends both moderate and conservative themes.

Kasich has long been a conservative favorite for his efforts to cut federal spending. Last year, he even angered some of his GOP congressional colleagues by seeking $150 billion in additional cuts (including the elimination of two Cabinet departments) beyond those approved in the 1997 balanced-budget deal.

But he also has taken an eclectic view on social issues. He supported the 1994 ban on assault weapons and advocated cuts in corporate welfare and spending for the B-2 bomber. He also strikes a different note on moral issues than many of the likely GOP contenders--rather than stress such polarizing issues as abortion and homosexuality, he has said that society’s values are measured more in “our sense of obligation to one another.”

Toward that end, Kasich is likely to call for giving nonprofit religious groups more authority for delivering social services to the poor--a process that he wants to accelerate by creating a new tax credit to encourage charitable giving.