"Of all Republican hopefuls, John Kasich, who announced his bid yesterday, is the best of a bad lot. Kasich has as much experience and an equal or better record than the other governors running, and more experience in government than the rest of the field combined. During his governorship he moved Ohio from 48th in job creation to eighth (second in the Midwest), halved unemployment to 5.2 percent and increased income by 9.8 percent. Poverty fell three times faster than the national rate, helped by a Kasich initiative to adopt a version of the earned income tax credit, which makes work worthwhile for fast-food employees and hotel maids," Reich writes in a Facebook post.

"I dealt with Kasich when he was a congressman from Ohio and headed the Budget Committee, and found him to be honest, forthright, and willing to listen and change his mind if the arguments were against him. Although a social conservative, against abortion and for the death penalty, Kasich has accused his party of waging a war on the poor, and has spoken up for immigrants. He has argued against repeal of the Affordable Care Act, and has taken Medicaid expansion dollars. According to Bloomberg, when Randy Kendrick, a major contributor and wife of the owner of the Arizona Diamondbacks, objected to Kasich's moral defense of aid to the poor, Kasich fired back, "I don't know about you, lady, but when I get to the pearly gates, I'm going to have an answer for what I've done for the poor." He hasn't been invited to a Koch brothers meet-and-greet since.