Let’s return to August, the governor, the House speaker and the Senate president seated at the table, surrounded by empty chairs. John Kasich, Bill Batchelder and Tom Niehaus were waiting for the other side to show, the opponents of Issue 2, the referendum on Senate Bill 5, the archly partisan overhaul of collective bargaining for public employees.
The trio knew they wouldn’t have company. The moment for compromise long had passed, even as well-intentioned operatives spent the summer looking to avoid a divisive, expensive campaign in the fall. So the episode became another bit of staging, a bid to get the upper hand.
At that point, might the governor and his allies have acted differently, perhaps dodging the shellacking from voters, the issue rejected overwhelmingly last week?
Imagine a pre-emptive strike of sorts, acknowledging the flaws, the Republican majorities in the legislature repealing Senate Bill 5 and quickly approving new legislation — minus the excesses that rated as pure union busting.
No S.B. 5, no referendum.
It would have been bold. It would have surprised. It would have put Ohio in a stronger position, the worthy changes more likely to have endured. It would have signaled a governor truly listening, ready to be pragmatic, recognizing his error in going too far. (The governor’s office pushed for those elements that attacked unions at their core.)
It didn’t happen, of course. Instead, we have the widely played photograph of the pummeled governor departing the post-election session with reporters, head down, hand to brow, his approval rating dismally low, in the middle 30s.
“You don’t ignore the public,” he said, while adding, correctly, that he also has “an obligation to lead.”
He continued: “I have been leading since the day I took office, and I’ll continue to do that, but part of leading is listening.”
Many state lawmakers think they have listened. Read their comments in this newspaper last week, and you couldn’t miss the shared reluctance to take up collective bargaining again, even to approve the popular changes.
Speaker Batchelder told reporters: “We have no intention at this time of doing anything about any of those issues. …” How about a limited proposal from the governor? The speaker would rather hear from the Fraternal Order of Police. “I’ve been very close to the police agencies over the years,” he noted, “and so I don’t have any desire to further interfere with what they believe about this legislation.”
That is the sound of a legislative leader scrambling to recover from a colossal defeat, trying to sweep away that his chamber embraced the more extreme provisions.
Batchelder indicated his party fell short in preparing Ohioans for what Republicans had in mind. Which highlights the role of listening as a tool for shaping leadership, for approaching the job of governor in the aggressive way Kasich proposes.
The governor has his share of good ideas. He wants a regional framework for economic development. He is pushing Medicaid in the right direction. He understands that local government must be pared back. What he has neglected is his own puny mandate. If Republicans gained the legislature and all elected executive offices a year ago, Kasich prevailed with 49 percent of the vote.
That signals a need to build trust and confidence. Kasich the candidate spoke often about JobsOhio and thus won the opening to overhaul the state Department of Development. In his State of the State address, he toured Ohio, describing the prospects of the regions, stressing, in the end, how we’re all in this together.
Yet the spirit hardly carried into the debate about collective bargaining. As a candidate, Kasich practically was silent on the subject. Thus, the legislation appeared sprung. As the bill evolved, the governor did little to create room for opponents to change their minds and say yes.
The expectation isn’t that the most ardent opponents would flip. What about the counties captured by John McCain in 2008? The Dayton Daily News reported that voters in these areas opposed Issue 2 by an average of 59 percent to 41 percent.
Listen to the governor, and you’re not likely to exit without hearing about Ron Dellums, the California Democrat with whom Kasich worked in Congress to shrink the B-1 bomber program. At this point in the story of Kasich the governor, it would be reassuring to have additional examples. Or better yet, Ohio examples, involving matters big and important.
On Dec. 8, three organizations, the Buckeye Institute for Public Policy Solutions, the Center for Community Solutions and the Greater Ohio Policy Center, will sponsor a conference in Columbus, “Across the Spectrum: The Future of Ohio and the Path to Prosperity.” As the title suggests, the sponsors represent varying perspectives, and so do the scheduled participants. What they share is an understanding about the need to bridge differences and collaborate, addressing problems, genuinely, persuasively and productively.
A gab session isn’t an elixir. It is a place to listen and learn. Maybe the governor should attend.
Douglas is the Beacon Journal editorial page editor. He can be reached at 330-996-3514, or emailed at mdouglas@thebeaconjournal.com.
