“The Republicans are Americans First”- this is what the former Governor of Ohio, John Kasich, said at a television interview last night. He said ‘the Republican leaders have become morally and ethically bankrupt’. He was talking about the actions of the Republican leaders since the last presidential election. He wants the Republicans to ‘stand up for their country’. 

John Kasich has been a life-long Republican. He was a two term Governor of Ohio from 2011 to 2019. Prior to that, he served nine terms, for a total of eighteen years, in the United States Congress. He unsuccessfully ran for 2016 Republican Presidential Primary and came in third. He is widely regarded as a very honest and capable leader who has been representing his party honorably for many years. Now he is totally disappointed by the leaders of the Republican Party. His voice was full of frustration as he said – ‘the Republican Party is not the same party anymore’. He says the leaders have lost courage.

Governor Kasich’s latest frustration is about the seventeen Republican State Attorney Generals who have joined the lawsuit brought on by the Texas Attorney General to the US Supreme Court to delay the certification of electoral votes of the four battle-ground states that President Trump lost, namely, Georgia, Pennsylvania, Michigan and Wisconsin. This is another last-ditch effort by the Trump team to challenge the results of the election. The Republican Attorney Generals of two of the states, Georgia and Arizona, declined to join the lawsuit because, in their opinion, the election was fair. Most legal experts consider this more of a publicity stunt than a legitimate legal case, especially since the Supreme Court has unanimously thrown out Trump’s challenge of the Pennsylvania election only a few days ago. There have been at least twenty-five other law suits challenging the election results of the battle ground states that Trump lost all of which got thrown out due to lack of evidence. US Attorney General Bill Burr announced last week that the investigation by the Justice Department found no election irregularities that would have changed the outcome of the election. Yet the Republican leaders refuse to acknowledge or recognize former Vice president Joe Biden as the President-elect. 

Governor Kasich has been a vocal critic of many of President Trump’s actions since he took office. When the news of hush money for Stormy Daniels came out, he said – “I cannot watch the news with my wife and daughter in the room anymore.” He has criticized President Trump’s lack of leadership on the pandemic. He has been most frustrated by what he describes as President Trump’s efforts to ‘divide the country’. John Kasich is an upright Republican leader who above all is a patriot. He strongly believes America stands tall for democracy, decency and fairness. And, according to him, the Republican leaders, from Lincoln to Reagan, have strongly defended these values. Now Governor Kasich is totally dumb-founded to see the hold that President Trump has over the Republican leadership in his effort to delegitimize a fair election. 

Governor Kasich is also very concerned about the future of the country. It appears almost inevitable that President-elect Biden will be inaugurated on January 20, 2021. Will the Republican leaders continue to question the results of the election? Will they continue to support Trump in his efforts to divide the country? The country is in the midst of the greatest health crisis. How would the country get united and work as one nation to get past this crisis and save lives? Governor Kasich’s worries make the rest of us worried.

Nirmalya Chatterjee is an 11 year resident of Las Vegas.  He is a management consultant for consumer products and the hospitality industry. During his professional career, Nirmalya had several senior levels and ex-pat assignments. He was the Chief Financial Officer for Coors Brewing Company; Vice President of Finance for Las Vegas Sands Corporation; Sr. Vice President of Finance, Galaxy Entertainment Macau; and General Manager of Revlon India. Most recently, Nirmalya served as the Chairman of the Hindu Temple and Jain Center of Las Vegas. Nirmalya holds an MBA from the Rutgers University.

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