MANCHESTER, N.H. - Just before taking the mic for a noon-hour town hall Friday in a dimly light American Legion post, John Kasich leaned over and whispered something like, "You really don't think I'd be doing this if I didn't think I could win, do you?" Well that's fine, governor, but the latest national poll shows Donald Trump creaming his nearest GOP competitor by 20 points, and you're stuck in the low single digits. Who else really thinks you can win?

MANCHESTER, N.H. � Just before taking the mic for a noon-hour town hall Friday in a dimly light American Legion post, John Kasich leaned over and whispered something like, �You really don�t think I�d be doing this if I didn�t think I could win, do you?�

Well that�s fine, governor, but the latest national poll shows Donald Trump creaming his nearest GOP competitor by 20 points, and you�re stuck in the low single digits. Who else really thinks you can win?

One very important group: campaign contributors.

A few minutes before, the ever-fidgety Kasich settled back on the cushioned seat of his campaign bus and ticked off the results of some of his recent fundraising stops: $100,000 in Memphis, $170,000 in Michigan, around $200,000 in Florida, and more expected tonight in Connecticut � on top of money flowing in from Ohio and elsewhere.

�I�m low in the national polls, which provides a disincentive for people to give me money, but yet we�re still doing it,� he told The Dispatch.

�If we didn�t have any money, we�d have to quit, because I�m not going into debt.�

Kasich said his campaign is financially set through the Feb. 9 primary in New Hampshire, the nation�s first. He repeated what he has so often said, that he doesn�t have to finish first, but merely do well and beat expectations in the Granite State. Then the recognition � and additional money � will flow his way.

�I�m not going to rise in the national polls until after New Hampshire. Nobody knows me. I�m the least known of all the candidates,� Kasich acknowledged.

�If we do well here, we don�t go, �OK, now what do we do in South Carolina?� But the focus is here. And, you know, if we get slaughtered here, then it�s over. But it�s not going to happen.�

He touted other less-visible signs of political strength, from strong ground organizations not only in New Hampshire but in unexpected places such as Mississippi. Of the former, he said, �These guys are the best. I mean, I�ll die with them on the mountaintop. If they can�t produce it, then no one can.�

And he pointed to something seemingly as routine as qualifying for the ballot in Virginia. But it�s a feat that former House Speaker Newt Gingrich was unable to accomplish four years ago. The Kasich team needed 5,000 signatures. It got 8,000.

His campaign is poised to be on every ballot in every primary state and U.S. territory.

�It�s unbelievable, isn�t it?� Kasich said.

The one-on-one interview came amid a series of stops starting Thursday night and ending this afternoon in a state he has visited dozens of times this year.

Kasich was basking a bit in the glow of being ahead of the curve among White House hopefuls when he boldly asserted on Thursday night that the California shootings that killed 14 and wounded 21 represented a terrorist attack inspired by Islamic State.

Thus on Friday, he told the 60 or so in the American Legion hall it �was no surprise to me� that authorities discovered that the woman involved had pledged loyalty to the terror group and the probe is now regarded as a terrorism investigation.

He called for re-examination of the fiancee visa program that allowed her to come to America with little trouble.

�I think this whole visa thing is something that needs to be looked at, and we need to get on it quickly,� Kasich said after touring a drug-rehabilitation facility. �And we need to get on it to the point where we�re not letting politics kind of drag us down. This ought to be fully bipartisan, and a really good leader ought to be engaged in getting this fixed.�

Earlier, Kasich again referred to intelligence sources providing him information that can�t be shared with the public.

�I have things that I know that I can�t talk about. But we know that these radicals exist everywhere,� Kasich said.

He said terrorists have established encrypted links so that they can communicate all over the world.

�We need to be able to hear the plotting that the radicals are doing,� he told the New Hampshire voters. At the same time, investigators� ability to listen in must occur without violating Americans� rights, which means a judicial process should be involved, Kasich said.

He said the Islamic State connection to the San Bernardino shootings shows the futility of simply using bombs and bullets to overcome the �distorted cult.� Instead, the civilized world must unite to press the battle of ideas against anyone who teaches such doctrine as raping young teens bringing you closer to God.

�We have to tell them in an effective way that that�s false, and that their whole dogma is false,� Kasich said.

He again proposed a Voice-of-America approach, but using social media as well as broadcasts into territory occupied by enemies to push the message. This time, Kasich did not call such an effort an attempt to spread �Judeo-Christian values,� a phrase that was widely criticized when he first brought it up a couple of weeks ago.

drowland@dispatch.com

@darreldrowland