Ohio Gov. Kasich emerges as the moderate in 2016 GOP field

Last week's gathering of the Republican Governor's Association featured a panel discussion among five potential presidential candidates and Ohio Gov. John Kasich reportedly stole the show.
According to Yahoo News, Kasich continuously contrasted himself with Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker, Louisiana’s Bobby Jindal, Indiana’s Mike Pence and Texas’ Rick Perry — who are all looking hard at running for president. 
Jon Ward of Yahoo reported that the message Kasich wanted to make clear to the crowd of 2,000, and the one he appears likely to carry into a crowded presidential primary, was that he is not a typical Republican who simply opposes Obama, criticizes Democrats and talks about the need to cut taxes. Instead, he conveyed, he is a problem solver who wants economic growth but also wants government to help people and fix things.
NBC's Sarah Blackwill noted that, of the five governors on stage, only Kasich was open to the possibility of a path to citizenship for undocumented immigrants, saying: "We've got to think about what's going to bring about healing. My sense is, I don't like the idea of citizenship when people jump the line, we may have to do it." 
When Walker contrasted President Obama's handling of Congress with Bill Clinton's style while in the White House, Kasich, who served as House Budget Committee chair in the mid-1990s, put Walker in his place, giving the Wisconsin chief executive a history lesson.

Here's how Ward summarized the RGA event:

"... Kasich — who ran briefly for president in 2000 before dropping out — took pains to stake out a different position on major issues from his fellow Republican governors. 'I have a little bit of a different message here,' he said.

"... On Common Core educational standards: 'We’re not doing well in the world. If we’re not careful the Googles and PayPals will be invented somewhere else. … I do think we have to have good standards. I don’t see that this is Obamacore. … The idea that kids in Iowa, kids in California, kids in Ohio, there ought to be a higher level of achievement? I’m completely for that. I think it makes sense. … It is purely local control.'

"On expanding Medicaid in Ohio: 'Ronald Reagan expanded Medicaid, OK? Because he said there were people that were left out. We have seen stabilizing of (the number of patients) in our emergency rooms. Do you understand that when people can’t get comprehensive health care they get sicker and end up in the emergency room, and guess who pays for it? We do.'”