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Zips favored on road against MAC West leader
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Blogmail response on Hafner
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Stallworth's contract terminated
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QB in Browns future: another mock draft
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KSU Notes – February 9
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NBA Power Rankings from Around the Internet
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Buckeyes grab 18 players on signing day
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Palin At The Tea Party Convention
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Republican Pre-Conditions
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Law, Love and Chocolate
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Collector Car Hobby Loses One of the Best—Jim Roll
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Decisions Decisions: Credit Cards or Your Mortgage?
Ohio Travels with Betty:
Loucile is looking for a Lake Erie getaway in June for three kids, ages 1, 3, and 5.
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Talk of the Town – Top entertainment picks for the weekend
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OFCCP Report
Akron Gamer:
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See Jane Style:
Do IT this week: Layering
By Dennis J. Willard
Beacon Journal staff writer
POSTED: 04:52 p.m. EST, Nov 14, 2009
COLUMBUS: Gov. Ted Strickland needs a big-city mayor, preferably an African-American, to be his running mate next year.
The governor and aides are mum on the subject of a short list, timetable and requisite characteristics for lieutenant governor, but Strickland should consider the following: mayors Don Plusquellic, Akron, Jay Williams, Youngstown, and Michael Coleman, Columbus; and state Rep. Vernon Sykes, D-Akron.
The governor remains very popular in southeastern Ohio, the area he represented for years as a congressman.
But to win next year, Strickland needs to turn out the Democratic base, and to do this, he needs to motivate voters in Northeast Ohio and the state's urban centers.
African-American voters and other newly registered Democrats came out in 2008 to help Barack Obama win Ohio and the presidency, and Strickland must do everything he can to motivate those citizens to jam the voting booths next November.
In a normal year, for a governor running for re-election, the lieutenant governor isn't that important.
Do you remember who ran with Bob Taft, George Voinovich or Dick Celeste in their quest for a second term?
In order, Jeannette Bradley, Nancy Hollister and Paul Leonard.
But 2010 is not going to be a typical year in Ohio and Strickland's road to the Statehouse was far different from that of his three predecessors in office, so the person he picks is of utmost importance.
Taft had a great name. Celeste and Voinovich each hailed from Cleveland, with long track records in state and local government before running for office. Strickland was a little-known congressman from Duck Run in Scioto County.
His rise to state power was a fluke of sorts. He won in 2006 in large part because voters did not want another Republican governor after the Taft years. His opponent, J. Kenneth Blackwell, ran a woeful campaign that inspired apathy in moderate Republicans and sent independents to Strickland.
On the plus side, Strickland is the incumbent with a fat and growing campaign war chest running against Republican John Kasich, a talking head on Fox News who represented the Columbus area in the U.S. House in the last century.
But the governor's popularity declined precipitously in recent months as the economy stagnated and job losses grew.
Strickland also lost support as many voters believed he botched the budget, mishandled his education overhaul plan and flip-flopped on his anti-gambling stance to support slot machines at horse racetracks.
Following the election two weeks ago, Ohio Republican Party Chairman Kevin DeWine pounced on the results in New Jersey, where voters defeated Democratic Gov. Jon Corzine and elected Republican Chris Christie.
DeWine said the momentum was shifting nationally and in Ohio, and that Strickland was in for a tough race next year.
More telling than the governor's race in New Jersey, however, is the mayor's race in Dayton, where an independent, Gary Leitzell, beat Democrat incumbent Rhine McLin by about 900 votes.
McLin, an African-American, lost because her core Democrats and constituency didn't bother to show up at the polls.
Strickland needs to carefully assess the Dayton race, because like McLin, the governor cannot take any votes for granted next year.
His standing in the African-American community is weak.
Leading up to the 2006 elections, Strickland announced he was not going to be a candidate for governor, apparently clearing the way for Coleman, an African-American, to head the ticket.
But when the political winds began shifting after growing scandals in the Taft administration, Strickland announced he was running.
A divided Ohio Democratic Party backed Strickland's choice for party chairman, Chris Redfern, although many African-Americans wanted to go in a different direction.
Then, in his first year in office, Strickland raised the ire of the black political community when he forced his nominee to the Civil Rights Commission, Barbara Sykes, to resign her chairmanship after businesses balked at a progressive unpaid maternity leave policy she helped pass during her interim tenure on the board.
The policy was killed, Sykes left and Strickland once again undermined his support among blacks.
African-American leaders have also not forgotten that Strickland was instrumental in helping U.S. Sen. Hillary Clinton win the Democratic primary in Ohio, which could have derailed, but most certainly delayed, Obama's ultimate nomination.
Then, in a move that should have helped the governor, Strickland appointed an African-American to state treasurer, but he did not fully vet his choice, Kevin Boyce, among black leaders.
If he would have checked their pulse, Strickland would have discovered that Boyce was well-liked, but not deeply respected.
Boyce's lone elected political experience was on the Columbus City Council, to which he was appointed before first running for office.
In Columbus, the at-large City Council seats are not won; they are turned over to the next in line through a resignation and appointment process that plays out like a perverted form of Democratic primogeniture.
Boyce is seen as the most vulnerable among Democratic statewide officeholders next year, and many African-American leaders think Strickland's appointment demonstrated a lack of consideration or care.
For these reasons and more, Strickland needs to at least consider Plusquellic, who, although white, would at least help the governor in Ohio's urban centers.
But more importantly, Strickland should be thinking about Coleman or Williams or Sykes.
Coleman is immensely popular in Columbus and is expected to coast to a fourth term in 2011 if he chooses to run. He recently persuaded voters to support an income tax increase to ensure city services, particularly those provided by police and firefighters, were not disrupted.
And he is a proven administrator who would be an asset to Strickland in running the government day to day.
Youngstown voters just elected Williams to a second term. He ran as an independent four years ago, but has since switched to being a Democrat.
Williams, even mentioned on a short list, would at least send a message to the Mahoning Valley that it is not far from the governor's thoughts.
And then there is Vernon Sykes.
He has been a lawmaker, off and on due to term limits, since the early '80s.
This year, Sykes chaired the House Finance & Appropriations Committee and escaped the brutal budgetary negotiations with more friends than when he started and his reputation as someone who brings people together intact.
Although it would be comically uncomfortable for the Stricklands and the Sykes to spend time together at the mansion or other functions, the governor could use someone capable of truly reaching out to the African-American community.
Dennis J. Willard can be reached at 614-224-1613 or dwillard@thebeaconjournal.com.
COLUMBUS: Gov. Ted Strickland needs a big-city mayor, preferably an African-American, to be his running mate next year.
The governor and aides are mum on the subject of a short list, timetable and requisite characteristics for lieutenant governor, but Strickland should consider the following: mayors Don Plusquellic, Akron, Jay Williams, Youngstown, and Michael Coleman, Columbus; and state Rep. Vernon Sykes, D-Akron.
The governor remains very popular in southeastern Ohio, the area he represented for years as a congressman.
But to win next year, Strickland needs to turn out the Democratic base, and to do this, he needs to motivate voters in Northeast Ohio and the state's urban centers.
African-American voters and other newly registered Democrats came out in 2008 to help Barack Obama win Ohio and the presidency, and Strickland must do everything he can to motivate those citizens to jam the voting booths next November.
In a normal year, for a governor running for re-election, the lieutenant governor isn't that important.
Do you remember who ran with Bob Taft, George Voinovich or Dick Celeste in their quest for a second term?
In order, Jeannette Bradley, Nancy Hollister and Paul Leonard.
But 2010 is not going to be a typical year in Ohio and Strickland's road to the Statehouse was far different from that of his three predecessors in office, so the person he picks is of utmost importance.
Taft had a great name. Celeste and Voinovich each hailed from Cleveland, with long track records in state and local government before running for office. Strickland was a little-known congressman from Duck Run in Scioto County.
His rise to state power was a fluke of sorts. He won in 2006 in large part because voters did not want another Republican governor after the Taft years. His opponent, J. Kenneth Blackwell, ran a woeful campaign that inspired apathy in moderate Republicans and sent independents to Strickland.
On the plus side, Strickland is the incumbent with a fat and growing campaign war chest running against Republican John Kasich, a talking head on Fox News who represented the Columbus area in the U.S. House in the last century.
But the governor's popularity declined precipitously in recent months as the economy stagnated and job losses grew.
Strickland also lost support as many voters believed he botched the budget, mishandled his education overhaul plan and flip-flopped on his anti-gambling stance to support slot machines at horse racetracks.
Following the election two weeks ago, Ohio Republican Party Chairman Kevin DeWine pounced on the results in New Jersey, where voters defeated Democratic Gov. Jon Corzine and elected Republican Chris Christie.
DeWine said the momentum was shifting nationally and in Ohio, and that Strickland was in for a tough race next year.
More telling than the governor's race in New Jersey, however, is the mayor's race in Dayton, where an independent, Gary Leitzell, beat Democrat incumbent Rhine McLin by about 900 votes.
McLin, an African-American, lost because her core Democrats and constituency didn't bother to show up at the polls.
Strickland needs to carefully assess the Dayton race, because like McLin, the governor cannot take any votes for granted next year.
His standing in the African-American community is weak.
Leading up to the 2006 elections, Strickland announced he was not going to be a candidate for governor, apparently clearing the way for Coleman, an African-American, to head the ticket.
But when the political winds began shifting after growing scandals in the Taft administration, Strickland announced he was running.
A divided Ohio Democratic Party backed Strickland's choice for party chairman, Chris Redfern, although many African-Americans wanted to go in a different direction.
Then, in his first year in office, Strickland raised the ire of the black political community when he forced his nominee to the Civil Rights Commission, Barbara Sykes, to resign her chairmanship after businesses balked at a progressive unpaid maternity leave policy she helped pass during her interim tenure on the board.
The policy was killed, Sykes left and Strickland once again undermined his support among blacks.
African-American leaders have also not forgotten that Strickland was instrumental in helping U.S. Sen. Hillary Clinton win the Democratic primary in Ohio, which could have derailed, but most certainly delayed, Obama's ultimate nomination.
Then, in a move that should have helped the governor, Strickland appointed an African-American to state treasurer, but he did not fully vet his choice, Kevin Boyce, among black leaders.
If he would have checked their pulse, Strickland would have discovered that Boyce was well-liked, but not deeply respected.
Boyce's lone elected political experience was on the Columbus City Council, to which he was appointed before first running for office.
In Columbus, the at-large City Council seats are not won; they are turned over to the next in line through a resignation and appointment process that plays out like a perverted form of Democratic primogeniture.
Boyce is seen as the most vulnerable among Democratic statewide officeholders next year, and many African-American leaders think Strickland's appointment demonstrated a lack of consideration or care.
For these reasons and more, Strickland needs to at least consider Plusquellic, who, although white, would at least help the governor in Ohio's urban centers.
But more importantly, Strickland should be thinking about Coleman or Williams or Sykes.
Coleman is immensely popular in Columbus and is expected to coast to a fourth term in 2011 if he chooses to run. He recently persuaded voters to support an income tax increase to ensure city services, particularly those provided by police and firefighters, were not disrupted.
And he is a proven administrator who would be an asset to Strickland in running the government day to day.
Youngstown voters just elected Williams to a second term. He ran as an independent four years ago, but has since switched to being a Democrat.
Williams, even mentioned on a short list, would at least send a message to the Mahoning Valley that it is not far from the governor's thoughts.
And then there is Vernon Sykes.
He has been a lawmaker, off and on due to term limits, since the early '80s.
This year, Sykes chaired the House Finance & Appropriations Committee and escaped the brutal budgetary negotiations with more friends than when he started and his reputation as someone who brings people together intact.
Although it would be comically uncomfortable for the Stricklands and the Sykes to spend time together at the mansion or other functions, the governor could use someone capable of truly reaching out to the African-American community.
Dennis J. Willard can be reached at 614-224-1613 or dwillard@thebeaconjournal.com.
Comments
Click here to post your comments
AKRON, OH
Posted 08:20 PM, 11/14/2009
but Strickland should consider the following: mayors Don Plusquellic, He was smart enough to look over him for a cabinet post,So why would he want toloose the governorship by even considering him.
Orrville, Oh
Posted 10:14 PM, 11/14/2009
If Governor Strickland wants reelected; he needs to bring Ohio back into compliance with demands; of Natural Law: what Mother Nature, God, or Whatever Power decreed to be the reality of the real world, God, democracy, capitalism, the US Constitution, and free, fair, and affordable commerce.
Demanding every corporation, farmer, business, outsourcer sweatshop, and nonprofit, tax-exempt, organization and Church; markets the cost; in the wholesale and retail price of his or her product and service; Of every workers, consumers, and taxpayers living (including pension and health care); enabling parents to love, nurse, nurture, discipline, protect, and provide for every child (job) they conceive; and fund schools, infrastructure, national security, government services, and etc.; with money derived from wages or independent business profit!
Tallmadge, Oh
Posted 09:23 AM, 11/15/2009
Pick the Don.......pleeeeeze !
akron, oh
Posted 09:51 AM, 11/15/2009
@ Dennis Willard - You mention an african american as the best choice as a running mate and then didn't really explain what makes the african american the best choice.
Strickland's ticking off the african american community for one reason or another, and having a need to make amends, isn't reason enough.
