Kasich Tells 1010 WINS His 'Positive Message' Is Gaining Appeal
NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) -- In a live interview on 1010 WINS Thursday, Republican presidential candidate John Kasich said people are noticing his "positive message" that stands out from his opponents.
The Ohio governor again said he still hopes to be nominated at a contested Republican National Convention, and noted that polls have shown him to be the only candidate who could beat Democrat Hillary Clinton in a general election.
"I'm the one who consistently (beats Clinton) – not just in the polls, but in the latest calculation of how the election would turn out here," he told 1010 WINS' Lori Madden.
Further, Kasich said he hoped that delegates at the GOP convention would see him as a candidate who "can actually be a good president."
He added that he can appeal to the same blue-collar voters who have been supporting Republican rival Donald Trump.
"The Trump people are fine with me," he said. "I'm a blue-collar kid. I have DNA of blue collar."
Kasich said he understand their frustration about a lack of job security and wage increases.
Kasich was noncommittal when asked if he would support Trump or U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, if one of them won the Republican nomination. But he had strong words for both.
"I made a speech here in New York on Tuesday saying that people who consistently feed on people's anxieties and fears, making them either hateful or paranoid, is not what leaders ought to do," Kasich said. "Anybody who consistently does that… is not worthy of the highest office."
Kasich said time would tell whether Trump and Cruz would change their tone.
Kasich was also asked about the strike now in progress among Verizon workers, who are off the job over a contract dispute concerning health care and job security.
He said he was not familiar enough with the strike to comment specifically, but added: "I think it's really important that both organized labor cooperate with business and business work as effectively as they can with organized labor, as they have in our state (of Ohio)."
He went on to blame the current lack of job security among American workers on "overregulating (and) overtaxing."
Madden also asked Kasich about laws passed in North Carolina and other states pertaining to transgender people and restrooms. A signed by North Carolina Gov. Pat McCrory last month invalidates an order in the city of Charlotte allowing transgender people to use restrooms aligned with their gender identity.
Cruz on Thursday said such a law is "perfectly reasonable determination for the people to make" and added that "men should not be going to the bathroom with little girls," according to the Associated Press.
Kasich only discussed the idea when it came to his home state.
"We're not going to sign any bills like that in Ohio," he said. "There's none under consideration."
When asked if House Speaker Paul Ryan (R-Wis.) might be running a shadow presidential campaign despite saying this week that he will not be running, Kasich said he took Ryan at his word.
"I don't really talk too much about it," he said. "I do know this – that if I'm president, he's speaker of the House, we're going to get a lot done."
Kasich's 1010 WINS interview came a day after the he received an official endorsement from the New York Daily News.
Calling him a "mature, grounded politician," the Daily News said that Kasich "meets the test of Republican conservatism."
The publication also endorsed Hillary Clinton for the Democratic nomination earlier this week. Speaking in an interview with 1010 WINS on Wednesday, Clinton said she she feels "very good" about her campaign ahead of the New York primary, where she takes on rival Bernie Sanders on April 19.
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Kasich also expressed optimism in his campaigning efforts during an interview on the CBS Evening News Tuesday, where he told Scott Pelley that he still had hopes of winning the nomination in a contested Republican convention.
More: John Kasich Visits The Bronx, Brooklyn
Kasich has been spending time in New York campaigning ahead of the state's primary, making stops in several counties in the New York metro area, including Brooklyn, Queens and the Bronx.
Kasich was expected to join Trump and Cruz Thursday night at the Republican Committee's annual gala in Midtown.