Has anyone combined righteous indignation and humiliation -and a fat dollop of hypocrisy - quite like Ohio Governor Ted Strickland?  You be the judge:

(via Athens Runaway)

We have reached the moment I knew was coming.  I said it when Strickland pulled his flip-flop on slots:

I have a suspicion this is a setup.  There will be a battle over gambling and when it doesn’t work, the response will be we have to raise taxes.  This is a last ditch effort to avoid tax increases.  If Ted Strickland was a leader he would stick to his principles and both oppose increased gambling and hold the line against taxes.

And the Governor has just made his first move in this little game:

Senate President Bill M. Harris, R-Ashland, has said he is OK with Strickland implementing slots on his own, but he has refused to support a legislative vote. A week’s worth of meetings have not brought the two sides closer together, so Strickland has tossed the ball into Harris’ court.

“I believe that he and the Senate Majority have an obligation to say what taxes they would increase or what services they would further reduce in order to balance the budget,” Strickland said in a statement.

“I look forward to hearing from the Senate what other source of revenue, or what additional cuts, they will suggest in the three remaining days of the legislative conference committee. I continue to be available around the clock and will remain accessible to the legislative leadership.”

See how that works?  Propose something that you know full well is opposed by the legislature and the public (and yourself it until just a minute ago) and then act disappointed when they don’t go along.

Next step is blaming the GOP.  If they do the stupid thing and raise taxes you know the base will be angry and the message of the party will be blurred. If they propose the cuts then you can blame them for the angry constituents of whatever programs get cut.

Strickland filled the budget with gambling money because he didn’t want to be on the hook for those cuts and he is trying to maneuver some of the blame on to the plate of Bill Harris and Republicans.

And you know what they should do?  They should suck it up and cut. The immediate backlash may seem harsh but in the long run a GOP who raises taxes is not going to be in the majority.  2010 is a ways off.  Do what you know is right and keep your foundational prerogatives straight.

Ohio got in this very position by refusing to make the hard choices; by being risk averse and satisfied with the status quo of high taxes and bloated government (and when they did cut taxes they story line of Taft incompetence and “corruption” was already in place and the base was turned off).  You have a chance to change that by sticking to your guns and then running on making the tough choices and moving the state forward on your basic principles: low taxes, effective government, and economic growth based on free market ideas not government programs.

This may seem like a giant game of chicken over the future of the state.  So be it. Embrace it.  Make Strickland blink  It is not only the right thing to do for Ohio, and for the future of your party, but it is the best gift you can give GOP candidates for office in 2010.

Not that they noted that, really.  But there’s still been some erosion of Strickland’s support in the last several months, whether PPP’s explicit about it or not:

43% of Ohio voters approve of how Strickland is doing his job as Governor, while 42% disapprove. A January PPP survey found the numbers at 48/35.

Strickland’s approval among Democrats has dropped from 70% to 62%, an unusually low level of support for a Governor within his own party. He’s also seen an increasing level of dissatisfaction with him from Republican voters, 72% of whom now say they disapprove of what he’s doing after just 59% did earlier this year.

Matched up against likely GOP candidate John Kasich, Strickland leads 44-42. He had a slightly wider 45-39 advantage in January. Strickland is mostly hurt by a 54-33 deficit to Kasich among independent voters, even though those same voters prefer a Democrat for the Senate in numbers that PPP will release on Tuesday.

See Third Base Politics for more analysis (and Ohio Politics Online, on general principles).  What I want to see is the next Quinnipac poll; both the March and the May ones were done back when there was an expectation that DeWine would be running for Governor. It’ll be interesting to see if the twenty point lead shown in both has dropped in the last two months, too.

In the meantime… as I said yesterday: Go Kasich.

Moe Lane

Crossposted to Moe Lane.

2006:

Senator Bi-Partisan in Gambling Debate
Republican Sen. George Voinovich helped persuade Ted Strickland, the Democratic nominee for governor, to oppose any proposal to introduce slot machines that are similiar to casino gambling in Ohio through an issue on the November ballot. Voinovich, who thinks gambling is a powerful addiction and can be destructive to families, has opposed any expansion beyond current law since a casino issue was on the ballot in 1990.

2007:

Gov. Strickland has not only vowed to veto a proposed bill to allow electronic betting on archived races at horsetracks, he has now joined with Attorney General Marc Dann to call for a ban on cash prizes from table-top gaming devices that are appearing in bars and restaurants all over the state. Dann’s support for a ban has developed out of his frustration with his earlier efforts to enforce the existing legal distinction between outlawed games of chance and permissible games of skill.

March, 2009:

Columbus — Gov. Ted Strickland on Wednesday slammed the latest plan to bring full-scale casinos to Ohio, saying gambling supporters need to stop selling their proposal as a potential life-saver for the state’s drooping economy.

“Every proposal that has been brought forth I think has been designed to enrich the promoters and give a modest or, even in some cases, a meager share of resources to the state or individual localities,” Strickland told The Plain Dealer on Wednesday.

June, 2009:

Gov. Ted Strickland rolled out a surprise plan today that would add electronic slots at the seven Ohio horse racetracks to generate revenue designed to help fill a $3.2 billion budget hole.

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Because they are really ratcheting up the lame attacks on John Kasich.  First, they offered this lame website making the accusation that Kasich’s job at Lehman Brothers somehow makes him responsible for the firms collapse, the housing bubble, and the general economic crisis.

I thought Kasich handled that one best:

“Blaming me for Lehman Brothers is like blaming a car dealer in Zanesville for the collapse of General Motors,” Kasich said. “It’s patently absurd.”

Do the Democrats really want to get into an argument about what caused the housing boom and bust?  Do they want to talk about all the connected Democrats who worked for Fannie May and Freddie Mac, got huge bonuses and then paid no price when the whole thing crashed (even as they insisted that nothing was wrong)?  Not too mention the Democrats who insisted on the policy of getting anyone into home ownership no matter the qualifications or credit record.  This is to say nothing of the millions of dollars Democrats have taken from Wall Street firms and individuals. This kind of guilt by association is weak tea.

Not content with a fake web page, however, they have now begun to demand that Kasich release not only his tax returns, but complete details on his work at Lehman and, get this, his entire economic platform:

So, we thought we’d ask John Kasich once again: What did you do at Lehman Brothers? And which taxes would you raise - or which services would you cut - to pay for your proposal to eliminate the state income tax? Ohioans deserve to know.

How bold of Democrats to demand Kasich explain his entire economic platform for years in the future a year and a half before the election.  Gotcha!

Um, no.

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The basic problem underlying the Democrats general floundering on the state of the economy comes down to two things:

1. Blame Bush/Taft is only going to get you so far.  Granted they will push this particular meme to the breaking point and beyond, but at some point when you control the presidency and the governorship; are in the majority in Congress; and the majority in the Ohio House at some point voters are going to wonder what it is YOU are doing.
2. They only have one solution: more government.  But what do you do when the budget is cratering?  How can you increase the size and scope of government in the name of fixing the economy when you are billions in the hole?

President Obama can rack up debt to his heart’s content - in the short term - but Ohio Democrats must balance the budget.  They tried the smoke and mirrors strategy, and passed a ludicrous budget, but the numbers came in and smashed that idea it to tiny little pieces which they are still struggling to pick up.  Now even the GOP led Senate changes made are not enough.

But #2 is really a problem for Ohio Democrats and I think it is a big reason why Ted Strickland seems so out of it these days (ie “It’s Not My Fault”).  The traditional Democratic answers on economic development, those not already discredited by history, simply aren’t available.

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Cross Posted to Ohio Politics Online

Ohio Governor Ted Strickland must have had an odd tingly sensation run up his spine on Monday. Why the sudden sense of fear?  Chuck Norris endorsed John Kasich’s bid for governor of Ohio:

John Kasich is running for governor of Ohio. As his website conveys, Kasich is the son of a mailman, who grew up in a blue-collar neighborhood in Pennsylvania. His values are rooted in faith, family, community and common sense. John was elected to the Ohio State Senate at the age of 26 and to the U.S. House of Representatives in 1982 at the age of 30. As a nine-term congressman, John led the way in a variety of groundbreaking achievements, including constructing and implementing plans to balance the federal budget, create new jobs, reduce taxes, minimize the roles of government and other critical issues important to America’s founders. John is also well known as the host of a national weekly news show called “Heartland with John Kasich. Newsweek magazine named him one of its “100 people for the 21st century.”

As Ohio Capital Blog noted on Twitter: “Chuck Norris doesn’t endorse candidates. He wills them into office.”

Feel free to offer your Chuck Norris aphorisms in the comments.

Harry S Truman (President of the United States) - his motto:

“The Buck Stops Here!“

John F Kennedy (Author of Profiles in Courage, President of the United States) - regarding the Bay of Pigs fiasco:

“President Kennedy has stated from the beginning that as President he bears sole responsibility for the events of the past few days. He has stated it on all occasions and he restates it now so that it will be understood by all. The President is strongly opposed to anyone within or without the administration attempting to shift the responsibility.”

Ted Strickland (Governor of Ohio) - on the news of Ohio’s record 10.2 unemployment rate & the loss of a GM plant / the relocation of NCR:

“Ohio’s governor says it’s unfair to blame his administration for two big job losses this week.”

Hmm.  Doesn’t have quite the same oomph to it.

See also Weapons of Mass Discussion and the Ohio Republican Party blog.  And, of course, John Kasich’s site, for those interested in confirming that Governor Strickland ends up not needing to take the blame for Ohio’s problems past November of 2010…

Moe Lane

Crossposted to Moe Lane.

Yesterday I was able to attend John Kasich’s 2010 gubernatorial campaign announcement and rally. And I have to say that, while everyone knows it is a tough road ahead, he started things off very well last night.

Ohio seems poised to shake off the ugliness of the past few years with a number of candidates who can excite the grassroots and bring the GOP coalition back together again. Kasich’s rally last night gave a glimpse of the excitement that is building.

For more, see below.

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When President Barack Obama wants to prove he is a centrist, and not afraid to tell his own supporters they are wrong, the one thin reed he has is some nice words on education policy.  True, he doesn’t have much of an actual record of bucking the education lobby on policy (see Freddoso for example) but he does have a history of rhetorically supporting charter schools and merit pay; two things that most unions oppose vehemently.

Ohio Governor Ted Strickland is also a down the line liberal who pretends to be centrist, but he has failed to emulate the leader of his party on the issue of charter schools.  Instead of embracing charter schools - called community schools in Ohio - he has launched an all out attack on them via the state budget.

What is remarkable is that the state’s editorial boards - who have criticized charters in the past and are no bastions of conservatism - have responded by calling on Strickland to listen to Obama and stop his partisan attack on the schools.

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