#John Kasich will speak in support of Joe Biden at Democratic Convention

Former Ohio Gov. John Kasich is expected to speak at the Democratic National Convention on Joe Biden’s behalf next month — one of several prominent Republicans being courted to back the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee, a report said Monday.

Biden’s team would not confirm specific discussions with Kasich, who served as the Buckeye State’s chief executive from 2011 to 2019, but deputy campaign manager Kate Bedingfield told the Associated Press that the campaign has begun working with Republicans, just as it had worked with progressives in recent months.

At the least, she said GOP backers could help blunt President Trump’s efforts to paint Biden as a far-left, radical Democrat.

“In terms of Republican supporters, I think it speaks to a career of being able to work across the aisle, of being able to actually get things done,” Bedingfield said. “We welcome the support of anybody who’d rather see Joe Biden be president than Donald Trump.”

The Milwaukee convention itself is expected to be a largely virtual affair.

Many GOP governors have at least partially ignored Trump’s demands that they reopen their economies and schools, imposing their own rules on mask wearing and social distancing absent mandates from the White House and amid CDC warnings about the consequences of reopening too soon.

In a Sunday interview with Fox News, Trump defended his statements from earlier this year that the coronavirus — which has sickened nearly 3.7 million Americans and killed nearly 140,000 as of Sunday, according to the CDC — would at some point “sort of just disappear.”

“I’ll be right eventually,” the president insisted on Fox.

Former Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker, a Trump supporter, praised the president’s recent decision to wear a face mask for the first time in public.

But Walker said he has no clear sense of Trump’s campaign message or political strategy with the election about 100 days away and polls showing the president trailing Biden by an average of 8.6 points nationally, according to the Real Clear Politics average.

Acknowledging concerns about his campaign, Trump named veteran GOP operative Bill Stepien as his new campaign manager, replacing Brad Parscale.

But the change was not expected to lead to major strategic shifts given that Stepien was already guiding much of the political operation and Trump and his son-in-law and senior adviser Jared Kushner ultimately call the shots.

With about 100 days until Election Day, there’s time for sudden developments that could shift the trajectory of the campaign. The Friday announcement that Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg’s cancer has returned was a reminder of the potential volatility ahead. In 2016, Trump effectively used the prospect of Supreme Court appointments to win over even conservatives who did not wholeheartedly support him.

And in crucial battleground states such as Florida, some Democrats are concerned that Biden’s current standing could be a high-water mark.

Some polls suggest Biden’s strength comes more from voters’ displeasure with Trump than excitement over Biden, whose regular gaffes, long Washington record and recent attempts to appease progressives leave him in a tougher spot than some Democrats would like to believe.

Florida Agriculture Commissioner Nikki Fried, the only Democrat elected to statewide office there, praised Biden’s message and said he could appeal to rural and middle-class voters. But she says “it’s way too early” to predict a victory.

“As we get closer, polls are going to get tighter,” Fried said.

That happened in 2016 when Trump narrowly won the election after trailing Hillary Clinton in the polls for months. The Democrats’ reluctance to enjoy the current moment reflects the sting of that loss, Biden’s nagging vulnerabilities and Trump’s mountain of campaign cash.

Trump’s campaign has reserved $146 million in television advertising this fall led by a $36.3 million investment in Florida alone, according to data compiled by Advertising Analytics. That’s more than double the next-closest state, Ohio, where Trump has reserved $18.4 million. Biden so far hasn’t reserved any fall advertising, although he’s amassed a fortune in recent months that will allow him to compete, even if he can’t match Trump dollar for dollar.

Trump this fall plans to spend big trying to flip at least three states that Democrats carried in 2016, according to the advertising reserves, which show he’s investing $14 million in Minnesota, $6.7 million in New Hampshire and $6.1 million in Nevada.

With AP