A lot of people voting for Trump did so holding their noseyea, he's not beating trump... no way... trump's fan base is rabid.... however, he could shave off enough of trump's support in the right areas to leave a lane open for the dem candidate to win... remember trump didn't win mi, wi, and pa by much... plus kasich is loved in ohio, so if kasich split enough of the vote there then the dem could win ohio... this is strategy....
If Kasich runs as an independent, he could bypass the primary issue and be a legit threat to Trump's re-election... and possibly the WH, which is "problematic" as he is a backwards thinking conservative neanderthal with a real shytty record on education
Problem is the Democrats have their heads so far up their asses Trump's re-election looks like a shoe in as long as the economy can hold together until the 2020 election. Ocasio-Cortez is an idiot who is going to get mauled on the national stage and Hillary is really looking to drag the Dems through hell again