Ohio Gov. John Kasich has not yet announced he鈥檚 running for president. But today, he makes his first visit of the year to Iowa, home of the nation鈥檚 first presidential caucuses.

And if he wants a chance to join the first GOP debate in Cleveland later this summer, he鈥檒l have to declare鈥攁nd become one of the 10 highest-polling candidates.

Over the past few months, he鈥檚 been speaking to business leaders and other voters in New Hampshire, South Carolina and Nevada, in an effort to distinguish himself to potential primary voters in a crowded Republican field.

Gov. John Kasich is polling at about 2 percent鈥攂elow long-shot candidates like Donald Trump. Still, he鈥檚 attracted some national attention as he gears up for a presidential run. Much of that attention focuses on his unconventional approach, emphasizing practicality and crossover appeal rather than adherence to party dogma.

That was the case 
 

鈥淲e can get on a path to a balanced budget, we can begin to deal with our entitlements, we can settle down immigration,鈥� Kasich said. 鈥淏ut it cannot be done with some strict ideology and without understanding how you get other people in the other political party to support your efforts.鈥�

He was speaking to a group of business people brought together by Renee Plummer, an influential New Hampshire Republican .  While she hasn鈥檛 endorsed a favorite, Plummer says she likes that Kasich didn鈥檛 spend his time trashing Democrats.
 

鈥淗e said, 鈥榊ou know, I鈥檓 not here to go ahead and start to bash the other side, I鈥檓 here to move the country forward,鈥欌€� Plummer says. 鈥淥nce you start with me, you start going after the other party, I don鈥檛 want to talk to you.鈥�

You might say Kasich had tailored his message to his host. But it鈥檚 one he鈥檚 repeating throughout New Hampshire.

Neil Levesque directs the . He says  stood out from those of other likely candidates.
 

鈥淚n the first 10 minutes, he talked about the tragedy of heroin addiction, cycles of poverty and mental illness,鈥� Levesque says. 鈥淎nd the fact is that most of us who are listening to the radio or watching TV are going to see the top story tonight related to one of those three issues.鈥�

But there鈥檚 another side to that message some see as a possible liability for Kasich among Republican primary voters鈥攈is decision to expand Medicaid under Obamacare.

It鈥檚 鈥渁 massive albatross,鈥� in the words of Drew Cline, the editorial page editor for the conservative .
 

鈥淪o If I鈥檓 looking at multiple governors who have solid track records鈥鈥檓 looking at him and I'm going, 鈥榃ell, you know, expanding Medicaid? I don鈥檛 know,鈥欌€� Cline says.

Kasich has defended his decision, sometimes in religious terms, 

Scott Huffmon, a political science professor at , says that pitch might be a tough sell for religious conservatives.
 

鈥淭hat is not usually what the strong Republican evangelicals are looking to hear,鈥� Huffmon says. 鈥淭hey want to hear more about opposition to same-sex marriage, about opposition to abortion and things like that. So at best it鈥檚 a way to mute criticism, but it is not a way to completely win over the people who might criticize him for it.鈥�

To be sure, Kasich is also pointing to his record as a fiscal conservative. He highlights his role in the crafting of a budget agreement when he served in Congress in the 1990s. He鈥檚 been campaigning for a federal balanced-budget amendment and talks up tax cuts he鈥檚 passed in Ohio.

鈥淟ook, I鈥檓 a conservative, been a conservative all my life. I balance budgets, I cut taxes, I deregulate things that make sense,鈥� Kasich told reporters in New Hampshire. 鈥淏ut I also think that people who are living in the shadows need to be helped. And I don't think any of this鈥擨 think this is really what Ronald Reagan felt, you know?鈥�

Kasich鈥檚 name hasn鈥檛 even been included yet in some South Carolina polls, but  political science professor Todd Shaw says it鈥檚 too early to say the governor has been lost in the mix.
 

鈥淩eally until you get into the sort of start of the primaries themselves and looking at the money game, looking at who鈥檚 aligning behind the candidates, what their ground game looks like in each of these states, particularly withn these states, and what's their strategy鈥攚hat do they see as sort of their clear strategy to the nomination, it鈥檚 fair game,鈥� Shaw says.

After all, it鈥檚 only June. The Iowa caucuses are more than seven months away.