Independent Kasich campaign?

[Fuzzy Bear]

Kasich is a Republican who isn't far from where the party actually is.

If he's had an epiphany about poor folks, he ought to switch and become a Democrat.  He'd have a better chance to be President trying to run as a moderate Democrat.  Not that it would be easy, and it would probably fail, but an Independent Kasich 2020 bid would DEFINITELY fail.

[Fuzzy Bear]

No wonder why people run as independents. They don't have to worry about any of that

Ballot access is the big obstacle for both third parties and independents.

Many "independent" candidates run slates of electors put up by minor parties with ballot access in a given state, provided that the particular party isn't something that would embarrass them.  Or they create parties in some states.  (New York requires candidates to be the candidate of a party.)  Florida actually allows someone to run a slate of electors not being pledged to an party.  

Truthfully, I don't see the rationale for a 3rd party candidacy by Kasich.  If he wants to be President, his only course of action is to flat-out challenge Trump in the primary.  There's no other way.

[Fuzzy Bear]

I can't see the underlying premise of an Independent Kasich campaign.

I can see the underlying premise of a Kasich challenge to Trump.  Kasich has always been a Republican; he was part of the House Republican Leadership when they moved into the majority in 1994, and was a viable Presidential candidate in 2000, after which he became a part of the FOX News stable with his show "Heartland".  Kasich could be a credible primary challenger to Trump, and one that the rest of the GOP might get behind. 

I'll say this:  If Kasich were the "Establishment" candidate instead of Bush and Rubio, Trump may not have prevailed.  That didn't happen, however.  Kasich was the strongest GE candidate in the polls early on, but the folks that mattered couldn't come around to see it.