John Kasich argues he’s the grown-up on the GOP debate stage

Ohio Gov. John Kasich took a moment from the insults and theater at the Fox News GOP debate in Detroit to argue that his experience and age make him a better candidate than his competitors.

“I knew Ronald Reagan,” Kasich said, in an attempt to show how long he has been around politics and government. “And I’ll leave it right there with what comes after that. You can figure that one out.”

He didn’t finish the sentence — one of the few times during the debate that anyone seems to have stopped because the bell rang. But those who have been around as long as Kasich would recognize the allusion.

Back in 1988, Republican vice presidential nominee Dan Quayle faced questions about his relative lack of experience. His critics charged that he was only chosen as George H.W. Bush’s running mate so that women voters could be charmed by his youthful good looks. Quayle tried to diffuse this by comparing himself in his stump speech to the equally boyish-looking John F. Kennedy.

At the vice presidential debate that year, his Democratic counterpart, Lloyd Bentsen, who was 67 years old to Quayle’s 41, was just waiting for Quayle to make the comparison. Bentsen, who was taller too, pulled himself up to his full height and looked down literally and figuratively. “Senator, I served with Jack Kennedy,” he said. “I knew Jack Kennedy. Jack Kennedy was a friend of mine. Senator, you’re no Jack Kennedy.”

Back then, Bentsen was indirectly trying to prove he was the grown-up on the stage. This time, Kasich was doing it directly.

(Cover tile photo: Paul Sancya/AP)