How long did it take John Kasich to go from playing at Tea Party support to endorsing socialism? Not quite that long.

On the other hand, the big Democrat pitch for Republican votes will be Kasich, utterly obscure outside his own state and political circles, and, presumably Colin Powell, who’s been a Democrat forever. But the media will pretend that Colin Powell campaigning for a Democrat is a big event. Just like they’re pretending that Peter Beinart calling for Israel’s destruction is a huge event.

On exiting, Kasich had a higher approval rating among Democrats than among Republicans. But even so he was in the low 50s. DeWine has a 75% approval rating now. A Kasich Zoom speech at the Biden convention is not exactly going to be a slam dunk.

But it does slam dunk the end of Kasich’s miserable career, which included a failed presidential campaign and a 180 degree turn.

 In two separate speeches last year, he warned his fellow Republicans that the tea partiers were serious about changing the Republican party. So serious, he warned twice, that tea partiers would “hang” Republicans “from the nearest tree” if they don’t get their way.

“I think I was in the Tea Party before there was a Tea Party,” he told a crowd in Columbus.

Next he’ll be claiming that he was a Marxist before Marx.