Three.
That's the number of delegates that Gov. John Kasich has won since Ohio's primary on March 15.
It's not for lack of trying. In New York, Kasich tried a strategy that the Washington Post dubbed "eat everything in sight."
In between meals, he's managed to squeeze in town halls from McKees Rocks to Media, from Syracuse to Schenectady and various and sundry points in between.
Earlier this month he spoke to students in Canton.
That's Canton, New York.
There is no more town hall love for the people of Ohio now that our primary votes have been cast.
A few weeks ago Kasich did take time out of his busy campaign schedule to come back to the Buckeye State to deliver his annual State of the State address. He gave his speech in Marietta, Ohio -- which the Associated Press provided "an opportunity for some free publicity in nearby West Virginia media markets, where primary voters have yet to have their say."
So even when discharging his gubernatorial duties, Kasich always puts his presidential ambitions first. Even Republicans in Ohio are noticing -- and tuning him out.
During his speech, Kasich surprised some seasoned capital watchers by announcing his support for congressional redistricting reform, saying that gerrymandering should be exiled to the "dustbin of history."
For those who aren't aware, Ohio voters approved state legislative redistricting reform by a 71-29 percent vote in 2015. Kasich's new-found religion on gerrymandering is nothing more than sticking his political finger in the air and feeling the prevailing wind blowing in a reformist direction.
So how did Kasich's redistricting comments go over with his Republican friends in the legislature? Let's just say Sansa Stark was more excited to wed Tyrion Lannister than the GOP leaders were about Kasich's call to action. (For non-Game of Thrones fans -- she wasn't all that excited.)
Senate President Keith Faber said it wasn't "among his top priorities."
House Speaker Cliff Rosenberger said, "We'll continue to have the conversations when we go forward."
Well that sounds encouraging.
On another front, Kasich has called for action from the GOP-led legislature on Ohio's renewable energy standards, which were frozen back in 2014. Kasich has said publicly that he disagrees with a legislative committee that recommended ending the renewable energy standards permanently.
While stumping on the trail -- in moderate New Hampshire -- Kasich said, "If the legislature wants to gut it, then I'm going to go back to the goal that we had, which was unpalatable. Because I'm not playing around with this."
Last weekend Kasich told CBS's "Face The Nation" that he would "probably not" have signed legislation similar to North Carolina's hateful House Bill 2, which promotes discrimination and hate against our LGBTQ brothers and sisters.
A moment later he said folks who disagree with discrimination should "get over it" -- but he assured the interviewer, "In our state, we're not facing this."
It's almost like the Republicans in Columbus don't care anymore what Kasich wants or thinks.
There's a phrase we use to describe an executive that can't get what he wants anymore -- it's a lame duck.
And the quacks coming from Kasich's campaign jet are getting louder every day.
What does all of this mean for the people of Ohio? Sadly, there is a cost to Kasich's delusions.
Firstly, Kasich's quixotic campaign is costing Ohio taxpayers hundreds of thousands of dollars. We can't be sure exactly how much because his administration has refused to reveal these expenses.
Second of all, Kasich's constant campaigning means that no one is addressing the serious issues that Ohio is facing. Here are just a few examples of major problems that Kasich is ignoring:
- Ohio's job growth has trailed the national average for 40 straight months.
- Eight out of 10 of Ohio's largest cities are economically distressed.
- Our median household income is lower today than it was three decades ago.
- There are more Ohio kids living in poverty today than there were during the height of the recession back in 2008.
- Ohio's education system has fallen from 5th in the nation -- to 23rd, according to Education Week's Quality Counts report.
- Ohio has one of the biggest gaps in the nation between its worst-performing schools and the rest of the state's schools.
- Ohio's $1 billion for-profit charter school system is rife with waste, fraud and abuse.
Every day that Kasich spends indulging his political ambitions is another day of missed opportunities for Ohio -- and every day on the campaign trail adds to Kasich's lame-duck status.