Sean Hannity: Let's hear it for Kasich!!!

DID YOU SEE that the guy who wants to be your governor has no problem with having Fox News stage a not-so-subtle fund-raiser for him on the Sean Hannity show. Yep, in what was his 9th visit to Hannity's children's hour, John Kasich was exchanging mutual admiration for Hannity's breathless appeals to his audience to support the Kasich campaign back here in Ohio.

Has there ever been anything more blatant than for a so-called news network to pass the plate for one of its own? The blog ThinkProgress caught some of the conversation:

HANNITY: John Kasich, we're watching Ohio really really closely. We appreciate you being with us and thanks for taking time out of your busy day and we wish you the best. This is a very important election, I think, for the country. And we'll be watching in the next 14 days , and on election night, we'll be watching very closely.

(At his point, Kasich makes his pitch to viewers to visit his website. Even spelling his name for those who can't spell. He concludes his appeal with:

KASICH: We need all the help you can give us, Sean. They love you out here."

The kinship is overwhelming. Like Hannity, Kasich is a dedicated right-winger with Tea Party tendencies who is not easy to love, particularly when his ideas desert the reservation for fringe solutions. Even the mighty Plain Dealer, which endorsed him, expressed concern about him. It's scary to think that Kasich would try to govern in the embrace of Fox News, where he has appeared as a paid commentator. But it is a fair preview of what life in Ohio would be like with Kasich at the governor's mansion and Fox in the rooting section.