Why Did 'The New York Times' Endorse John Kasich?

The editorial board didn't mince words when it called a rather unexpected presidential prospect the "only plausible choice" for the GOP nomination on Saturday. But why did The New York Times endorse John Kasich for the Republican primary? Does Kasich actually have a chance of, you know, winning? Probably not, but it seems that mostly The Times is pretty sick of the Republican party.

The Times spilled most of its ink gushing about how the GOP is completely bananas rather than laying out Kasich's credentials. A fair assessment, to be sure, but the editorial board went into detail about the general insanity of Republican front-runners Donald Trump and Texas Sen. Ted Cruz, who the board wrote are "equally objectionable for different reasons."

Trump, the board wrote, is essentially pandering to his somewhat rabid supporters, saying whatever he must to get more applause lines. Cruz, according to the board, is built on ambition rather than principles. The board wrote that Cruz "has helped to engineer a shutdown of the government and has alienated virtually the entire chamber, both of which he bills as accomplishments since he lacks real ones." Woooooof.

As for the rest of the party, or at least Jeb Bush, Marco Rubio, Ben Carson, and Chris Christie, they mostly got one-off lines about campaigns that failed to get anyone really excited or they're pandering too much to the front-runners' positions.

Oh yeah! And Kasich. Remember? He's that guy that they endorsed! They had some, uh, words to say about him:

Gov. John Kasich of Ohio, though a distinct underdog, is the only plausible choice for Republicans tired of the extremism and inexperience on display in this race. And Mr. Kasich is no moderate. As governor, he’s gone after public-sector unions, fought to limit abortion rights and opposed same-sex marriage.

Kasich, the board says, has demonstrated ability to navigate the extreme partisanship that we currently face. He spent almost two decades in the House and, as the board puts it, "believes in the ability of government to improve lives." And, as The Times notes, Kasich hasn't spent too much time ripping on Barack Obama. They recalled comments that he made at a New Hampshire town hall meeting: "I am so tired of my colleagues out here on the stage spending all their time talking about Barack Obama. His term is over."

The Times only devoted three paragraphs exclusively to Kasich, so it isn't exactly a glowing endorsement. Will that give Kasich a boost? No. Probably not. But hey! It's some press, and if you're not Cruz or Trump, that's hard to come by in this race.