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Ted Strickland blasts Ohio Gov. John Kasich in Cleveland speech, says rematch possible
by Henry J. Gomez  
September  30, 2011 

As Republican Gov. John Kasich received slightly improved poll numbers Tuesday, the man he defeated last year and the man conventional wisdom pegs as a future candidate for his job shared a stage in Cleveland. 

Former Gov. Ted Strickland and Cuyahoga County Executive Ed FitzGerald, both Democrats, unloaded on Kasich at the American Constitution Society for Law and Policy’s annual Northeast Ohio luncheon. The liberal organization is comprised largely of lawyers. 

Strickland in particular sounded like he was angling for a rematch with Kasich in 2014. In a brief interview after the event, he acknowledged that he was considering another run. 

“I’m certainly not taking it off the table,” said Strickland, a former congressman from southeastern Ohio who served one term as governor before losing to Kasich last fall. 

ACS, as the Washington-based group is known, honored Strickland with its Stephanie Tubbs Jones Public Service Award, named in honor of the late Cleveland congresswoman. A crowd of about 100, mostly judges and attorneys, turned out to hear two high-profile Democrats speak. 

Strickland blasted Kasich and other Republicans in Columbus for supporting initiatives such as Senate Bill 5, which if it survives a November voter referendum would severely restrict the collective bargaining power of public-employee unions. Strickland also took aim at what he described as “voter suppression efforts” in House Bill 194, an overhaul of state election laws that will be contested if opponents gather enough signatures to trigger a voter referendum. 

The speech included a plea to “turn back the onslaught” of the conservative Tea Party, “the greedy corporate elite and the anti-labor zealots.” 

Democrats, Strickland added, are fighting for fairness “because the Kasich administration’s assault on organized labor and working middle-class folks is just simply unfair. 

“It is a political power grab, and consequently it must be defeated.” 

Kasich’s spokesman, Rob Nichols, dismissed Strickland’s criticism. 

“I would compare policy advice from him to sailing lessons from the captain of the Titanic,” Nichols wrote in an email that attacked Strickland’s term. “Losing 400,000 jobs, raising taxes by $840 million, blowing an $8 billion hole in the budget, and then planning to raise taxes again to clean up the mess probably disqualifies someone from being a credible policy thinker.” 

Strickland, 70, launched a business and political consulting firm in July. 

FitzGerald, who introduced Strickland, joked that he had prepared more controversial remarks but “put them away for a more private occasion” because a reporter was in the audience. He talked mostly about his first year as leader of a reorganized county government but also said that if anyone doubted the former governor’s performance, Kasich “has eliminated those doubts.” 

Because he leads Ohio’s largest county and represents a constituency second in size only to the governor’s, the young and ambitious FitzGerald is regarded widely as a future candidate for state office. Asked after his speech if he was considering a run for governor in 2014, the year he would be up for re-election, FitzGerald said it was “premature” to discuss the possibility. 

Strickland praised FitzGerald for tussling with Republican Ohio Secretary of State Jon Husted over county’s rights to mail absentee ballots to voters. The public battle resulted in compromise; FitzGerald agreed not to mail ballots his year and Husted, seeking uniformity in state laws, agreed to mail ballots to voters in all 88 counties for the 2012 presidential election. 

“I want to say a word of thanks to you, Ed, for standing up not just for Cuyahoga County but for voters all across the state of Ohio as you took on the fight,” Strickland said. 

Read it at the Cleveland Plain Dealer

 

 



 
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