Kasich, Fiorina hope to increase visibility with Iowa visits

DES MOINES - John Kasich and Carly Fiorina were in Iowa on Friday to get in front of first-in-the-nation caucus voters and attempt to distinguish themselves in a large field of Republican candidates for the GOP presidential nomination.

Fiorina, the former Hewlett-Packard CEO, and Kasich, the governor of Ohio, are near the bottom of most national polls on the GOP race.

Kasich, speaking at a distributing plant in Des Moines, told reporters he is not concerned about his low standing in national polls because he thinks most people were unaware he was considering a run for president.

'We'll travel around now and let people get a chance to know me,” Kasich said during his only stop in Iowa. 'I'm not really worried about national polls.” ”

Kasich said that while in Congress, he was the 'chief architect” in balancing the federal budget, and that as governor, he led Ohio's turnaround from 'basically dead” to 'booming.”

'With me, I have a resume and a record,” he said. 'I'm just not somebody that comes and talks about what I'm going to do. These are things that I've already accomplished in my life. I think the record is strong, and people need to know about it.”

Kasich said that as president, he would balance the federal budget, rebuild the Department of Defense by reforming the Pentagon and ensure 'everybody in America knows they're part of the American family, that they're not going to be left behind.”

Fiorina, in the midst of a four-day, 13-stop swing through Iowa, spoke to around 40 young Republicans at a Bull Moose Club gathering in downtown Des Moines.

She asked the audience to spread the word about her candidacy. 'I have to work extra hard to get out there so people understand who I am and what I believe,” she said.

Fiorina said she believes the federal government has grown too large and is 'crushing” America's potential. She said she would reduce its size by not filling job openings that become vacant when 'tens of thousands” of baby boomers working in the federal government retire in the coming years.

'It is a moment in time to actually reduce the size of government,” she said.

Fiorina said she spoke with an Iowa poultry farmer whose flock was devastated by this spring's bird flu outbreak and who was frustrated by the federal government's slow response before he could dispose of his infected birds.

'This man was so sad. He was depressed. He felt powerless and helpless. … Why? Because the federal government had the power to tell him what to do,” Fiorina said. 'I could tell that story over and over. I hear that story all day long.”