"I have a right to try to define Republicanism"

“To me, it’s a struggle,” Kasich said, sitting down with me in Washington for POLITICO’s “Off Message” podcast. “I have a right to try to define Republicanism and conservatism as much as anybody else and, you know, I think there’s a little struggle right now and I think the party doesn’t quite know where it’s going.”

Kasich is on tour for a book he insists really, really isn’t about running for president again, though the promotion has included a stop in New Hampshire and an eagerness for interviews of the sort that’s standard for someone whose interest in the White House is at least a maybe.

Asked if he’s thinking about forcing Trump into a primary, Kasich said, “Well, I don’t know.”

“I mean, I have 18 months left in my job as governor. I do want to maintain a voice. I do want to maintain some sense of a political operation. But am I going to run? I mean, if my wife was listening to this, I would have to say no. But look, you never know when duty calls and I don’t know what that means,” he said. “So we’ll see.”