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Y! MyWebObama needs to catch Strickland fever
Sunday, August 24, 2008
DENVER — Whatever Ted Strickland's got, his pals in the Democratic Party hope it's contagious.
They want Strickland to infect Barack Obama here in Denver with the bug that it takes to win in Ohio.
That might seem like a tall order for somebody who, just two years ago, was a back bench Democrat in a Congress run by Republicans.
Strickland's stunning victory in the 2006 governor's race — he got 61 percent of the vote — turned the Methodist minister, currently on leave from the pulpit, into a national phenom.
Long after Strickland told his fellow rubes and hayseeds back in Ohio that he didn't want to be a candidate for vice president this year, the know-it-all deep thinkers and talking heads in the national media decided that he would be a great choice. They kept yapping about it, Strickland's denials of interest notwithstanding.
Strickland, 67, kept saying "no" and VP fever eventually died down.
The governor's job at the Democratic National Convention is less glamorous than running for vice president but equally important for Democrats.
"I hope to have the opportunity to pull the delegation together. There are going to be delegates who were strong Obama supporters and others who were strong Clinton supporters from the beginning," Strickland said last week. "That contest is over. I want to do everything I can to make sure the Ohio delegates are all on the same page."
Strickland used to be on Hillary Clinton's page and helped her defeat Obama in the Ohio primary. He even compared Obama to an "American Idol" candidate.
"What I was talking about was a euphoric kind of support for Sen. Obama," said Strickland.
Lately, Obama's been less euphoric and more down-to-earth when it comes to the "kitchen table" issues — jobs, health care, education — that really matter to voters, Strickland suggested.
"The choice between Sen. Obama and Sen. McCain, the choice is stark," said Strickland. "I believe if Ohioans like what George Bush is doing, if they think we are, in fact, on the right track and headed in the right direction ..... they ought to go out and support John McCain."
If Obama wins, Strickland could become somewhat of an anomaly in Ohio. Not since 1962, when Mike DiSalle was in the Statehouse and John F. Kennedy was in the White House, has a Democratic governor from Ohio served with a Democratic president.
Strickland's roots in Duck Run in southern Ohio helped him appeal to voters who often shun Democrats. To carry Ohio, Obama needs to do better with those same voters than John Kerry did in 2004. The bogus hunting trip Kerry took with Strickland late in the campaign near Youngstown didn't do him any good.
Strickland said he wants to get Obama back to Ohio and put him on a campaign bus for a trip through southern Ohio.
"I have recommended that we go from community to community," Strickland said. The governor said he wants to do the same thing in rural areas in northwest Ohio.
Political scientist John Green said Strickland's popularity and campaign skills should help Obama, to a point.
"There is a real limit to such transfers," said Green. "The governor will not be able to make up for mistakes Obama may make."
Strickland didn't disagree, although he still wants to get Obama on the bus.
"Let me say that Senator Obama is the key to Senator Obama's success in Ohio," the governor said.
Contact this reporter at (614) 224-1608 or
whershey@DaytonDailyNews.com.
