Westerville, Ohio — Republican John Kasich, who’s locked in a tight gubernatorial race against Gov. Ted Strickland (D., Ohio), this morning launched a statewide bus tour in a barn outside Columbus, the same spot where he kicked off his campaign in June 2009.

In a speech in front of a throng of local GOP activists, Kasich harshly criticized President Obama, who spoke at a rally in Columbus last week: “Barack Obama comes into this state and all he talks about is, ‘They’re going to take us backwards.’ Well, hey, you know what? Backwards into the Nineties is a heck of a lot better than what he’s given us since he’s been president of the United States.”

Vice President Biden, who will stump with Strickland in Toledo this weekend, was another Kasich target. “Joe Biden’s been here 20 times,” Kasich said. “We pray every night that he’ll come 20 more.”

Kasich, a former congressman, also slammed former president Bill Clinton, who has been of the Democrats’ most vocal advocates on the trail: “Let me tell you, Bill Clinton has got more gall than any human being on the face of the earth. We had to drag him, kicking and screaming, to the balanced budget. He didn’t want anything to do with it until he realized there was a riot. And Bill Clinton, you know the way he does it: He gets in front of the parade and claims he’s leading it. That’s what Bill Clinton does.”

The RealClearPolitics average shows Kasich ahead by 4.2 points, but the polls have narrowed in recent days.