Ohio DU'ers: We NEED To Win the OHIO Governorship!

Which Representative would be good? Sherrod Brown? Ted Strickland? We need a Democratic governor in Ohio. Badly.

I know, everybody loves Kucinich but he's not a viable statewide candidate.

Who'd be good? Who's likely to run? And can we win it? I've heard that Gov. Bob Taft (R) is REALLY unpopular. True?

that no matter who you run...they have to get by the those pesky e-voting machines. Best work to get them under control first.

Yeah, Taft is extremely unpopular, because he raised taxes as soon as he was re-elected, despite campaigning on the promise that there would be no need to do so because the state's economic situation was just fine.

How someone like Bob Taft, a faineant buffoon with the intellectual capacity of a rotten fencepost, could so diabolically swindle the astute and highly discerning citizens of the Buckeye Confederacy is a mystery of Matlockian proportions!

But Taft can't run again. But even if he could, I feel the highly moral and intelligent citizens of the Mississippi of the North, would no doubt vote for him again -- as long as Bob really, really promises that everything is just fine, and this time he means it.

There's going to be some infighting among the Republicans for the nomination next time around. I think the big contenders will be Betty Montgomery and Ken "throw out the voter registrations! Electronic voting has been rigorously tested and it has no problems" Blackwell. If Blackwell gets the nod, the church pastors are going to have their work cut out explaining to their congregations why God picked a Negro to carry the standard of righteousness.

But frankly it's to the point anymore that I feel a ham sandwich could beat a Democrat in Ohio, if the ham sandwich had an (R) after its name.

He's no better than Blackwell, but his name recognition isn't all that high, really. Blackwell would have a hard time, since as you note, there are certain white voters who wouldn't go for him, and he's damaged himself with the minority community by targeting them for voter suppression. He announced a couple of weeks ago that if the GOP wouldn't support him, he'd run as an Independent. I have my fingers crossed -- I'd love to see that happen.

Actually, I think Fingerhut wants to run against DeWine, who's also up for reelection this time, I believe. Fingerhut has been serving in the statehouse as an Ohio congressman, so he has some record to run on as a member of the legislative branch. I don't know -- he says he's still game to go, I don't care which office he runs for.

Strickland's also a state congressman, but he might have a broader appeal than Fingerhut, since he's almost conservative. I think he'd have a good shot at governor if he got going soon. He's an okay guy, I've known some people who knew him personally -- he's definitely a good speaker, I remember seeing him almost thirty years ago now at a Democratic fundraiser with my dad. He could only be better at that, now. And I think he's conservative enough to cover all the bases, but not so conservative he'd still get most Dem votes.

Most importantly, they can't play religious freeze tag with the guy -- he has a divinity degree. They won't get any 'deer in the headlights' stare out of Strickland when they start quoting bible verses -- I'm sure he knows the ground well.

Jim Petro at least had the sense and political guts to oppose Issue One - he was one of the first in his party to do so. That counts for something in my book - especially with Blackwell actively campaigning for it to pass.

Did Strickland take a stance on Issue One (the server on my website crashed just before the election so I can't easily check)? Given the personal nature of the insult a little over a week ago - and the potentially dramatic and costly impact on my family - a conservative democrat in favor of Issue One might lose my vote to Petro.

It could potentially be bad for business in Ohio.

Here's the list of those who were against it -- Strickland's on it:

http://www.acluohio.org/Issue1_listagainst.htm

You have my sympathies on Issue 1 -- I thought it was repugnant, too, and I doubt very much most people who voted for it bothered to actually read it.

Which, in my book, makes Blackwell (who actively campaigned for it - he felt the need to leave a long message on my answering machine urging me to vote for Issue One) worse than Petro who took a stand against it.

And I am sure you are correct about most folks not reading it. If most of us hadn't been so focused on getting Kerry elected as so critical (which took all of my spare time), a very effective and successful campaign could have been run against Issue One - based mostly on bringing the second sentence to peoples' attention.

I just hope the entire state learns the lesson Cincinnati learned...

in his senate race? I don't think he could win.

I'm an ex-Buckeye living in Texas and am a bit curious. I've met and spoken with Ted on several occasions many years ago when he was running against Bill Harsha, then against Bob McEwan. Great guy, quite able, quite likeable as opposed to McEwan who seemed to be so... Plastic.

Sharrod Brown would make a good choice, too. And for Lieutennant Governor, how about former Chillicothe mayor Margie Planton?

did you live down in the Adams-Brown-Clermont part? I remember Strickland and McEwen debating at my high school, when Strickland first started running for office back in the late '70s or early '80s.

Dayton's current mayor, Rhine McLin, wouldn't be a bad choice either. She served as a state rep before she ran for mayor, and she beat Mike Turner, much to the chagrin of some of the Republicans around here who thought the sun rose and set on Mike Turner's rear end.

I think Ted Strickland is Ohio's best hope for taking the Governor's seat away from that incompetent bozo, Taft. But as long as that total nutter Ken Blackwell is around there will never be honest elections in Ohio -- that must be a top priority.

Ohio governors can only serve two consecutive terms, then they have to step down for at least one term. That's why we're not sure who's going to run as a Republican. Taft can't, and now the rest of them are falling all over each other to see who'd be the best to run ... but they don't know who the Dems might run yet, and knowing our state Dem Party, they don't have a clue. If the couldn't beat Taft last time out, it's going to take a hell of a grassroots effort to get anybody in there.

My first post, so please be gentle! ;)

Right now I only see 4 possible Democratic candidates for governor. Sherrod Brown, Marcy Kaptur, Ted Strickland and Dennis Kucinich. Dennis Kucinich definitely has a high profile but sadly he's seen by many as too liberal to have a chance at wining. Marcy Kaptur has been visible for more than 20 years but IMO if she was interested she would have given it a run by now.

Sherrod Brown struck fear into the heart of the OH GOP when he threatened to run for governor during redistricting. For those who aren't aware, the Republicans wanted to redistrict Brown out of office and he threatened to run for governor. The Repugs backed down (and so did Sherrod Brown) and the redistricting was actually fairly even, strengthening both Republican and Democratic strongholds. But will he run? I don't think so.

Ted Strickland is my congressman. His district is spread far and wide and sadly he is seen somewhat as an absentee landlord through no fault of his own. Most people here don't know much about him. I think he has a strong chance to pick up voters that the Dems haven't had a chance at. Mr. Strickland's district is largely rural and is full of blue collar millworkers. He comes across as very moderate (maybe too moderate for some?) and I personally think he's the best chance we have at this point. But the question of course is...can he pick up voters in the big cities? I think so. I think he will appeal to people in both Cincinnati and Cleveland, and probably Franklin county too. FWIW, I spoke to Jeff Seemann several months ago and he told me that he admired Ted Strickland and suggested I go find some of his old speeches because he is a exceptional orator.

IMO, Jerry Springer will be the wild card. I think Jerry's visibility appeals to the powers-that-be, but man he carries around a lot of baggage.