Who'll run against DaWino in '06?

[Emops]

I nominate the I-75 Mega Jesus. He can carry Warren County, for sure.

Seriously, though...You think someone like Strickland? Columbus mayor Michael Coleman? DeWine is obviously going to be tough to beat (he won 60% in '00), so should we even invest great effort into this, or should we save all we've got for the governor's race, which is surely more competitive?

[realisticphish]

1. i liked the idea of coleman

hes a great guy, kind of resist losing my mayor though, lol


:hippie: The Incorrigible Democrat

[NEOBuckeye]

2. DeWine is hardly invulnerable. He can be beaten.

But it takes a charismatic candidate and and organized effort to mount a viable, statewide campaign, and the State Dems haven't had much to go on in either area as of late. Ohio Democrats in general for the past two decades have concentrated their focus in large cities and urban areas, hence the reason we govern them today. Meanwhile, the Republicans ceded interest in the big cities and concentrated their focus on winning the State and Federal level positions, hence the reason Ohio is in so much economic and financial trouble today.

The main problem that I see with Ohio is that we have so many different urban centers, and problems that are fairly unique to each of them. Our three largest cities, Cleveland (Rust Belt), Columbus ("Sun Belt") and Cincinnati (increasingly Southern-esque), are all as different from each other as night is to day. They may as well be in seperate states in many regards. As a result, the Democratic leadership in each of these cities handles their problems differently, so, they don't often relate to each other in any meaningful way. Hence maybe why state party efforts have been so uncoordinated.

Compare Ohio, with it's seven or eight urban areas, to Illinois, which has just about everything there centered around Chigago, or Minnesota, which has the same in the twin cities of Minneapolis and St. Paul. The fact that they have just one or two primary urban centers seems to make those centers key social and political focal points. Hence, generally he who controls the politics of the city, controls the politics of the state. Perhaps having so many different urban centers in Ohio dillutes the statewide focus of the party that governs them all.

That might be changing somewhat, though, given that the mayors of the "Big Six" -- Akron, Dayton, Columbus, Cleveland, Cincinnati and Toledo -- recently met in a joint conference, which one hopes would be the first of many more to come. Democrats in each of Ohio's big cities working together to form a new coalition to support and produce candidates for state and federal leadership positions would be a damn near unbeatable force, and the state GOP's worst nightmare come true.

[Kolesar]

3. It is expensive to run campaigns in six media markets

That is one reason I think the Goops have an advantage here. They have funding resources such as, well, fundies. Ha ha. In my county, candidates tap into out of state religious funds.

[OzarkDem]

4. Dems can raise funds, too

They just have to start reaching out to their grassroots for fundraising. They haven't tried it in the past, so they've nowhere to go but up. They need to start thinking like an opposition party.

[AngryOldDem]

5. In other words, learn from the Kerry mistakes

The grassroots effort, at least here in Montgomery County, was awesome. But the campaign leadership from the state level on up sucked. People whom we thought were in it for the long haul weren't; those left in charge were totally clueless; and those they were directing, ultimately frustrated and angry, my husband and myself included, by November. In the end it spelled a close win for Kerry in a county he should have won in a landslide, and a loss for Kerry in a county he should have won. Voting issues aside, it was a lack of leadership that damaged us the most.

Ohio definitely has the commitment; it just needs a coherent party leadership to direct it.

[Andrea]

8. Good analysis

I think you have made some very good points here. It is very different in Ohio because we have so many urban centers, and yes, they are very different. It is hard to coordinate state-wide campaigns under these circumstances. The horrible Bush economy should be helping us in this regard, though, as even here in "sun belt" Columbus our jobless rate is worse than the national rate.

It's kind of ironic that people unfamiliar with Ohio think it is some kind of farm state when in fact it is more urban than most states. And of course the big "red state vs. blue state" divide is really urban vs. exurban and rural. Leaving my home in a very blue neighborhood in the middle of the blue city of Columbus and driving to the blue city of Cleveland to visit friends, I feel like I am driving through some alien landscape when I'm out in the red areas. The differences have become alarming.

I agree that DeWine is beatable. It's great that the mayors of the "big six" have conferred and I hope a strong coalition comes from that. While I favor Columbus Mayor Mike Coleman for Governor (he could win - he has good relations with business and Republicans will vote for him), I think we could elect a more liberal senator. People are more willing to take risks with their Senators, because it is not an "eggs in one basket" type of office. Look at MA - Kerry and Kennedy in the Senate and a Republican Governor. I think if Jerry Springer can rehabilitate his image, he might be the one to beat DeWine. He is charismatic and very media savvy. He's also actually a pretty astute guy with good progressive ideas. He comes across very well in media appearances other than his ridiculous TV show (which he is discontinuing).

[Kolesar]

9. Welcome to the Democratic Underground message board!

:hi:

[Andrea]

10. Thanks! You are the first to welcome me!

[LocalDem]

31. Welcome to DU!

[PROGRESSIVE1]

11. I'd like to see the Urban Power Players get together.

The "Rural Power Players" have been so for 20 years now and they have done very well!

[paineinthearse]

6. Link to this thread has been added

I've added a link to this thread to the "all Senate seats expiring in 2006" thread in the Democrats forum.

[OhioBlue]

7. Marcy Kaptur

rep from Toledo area.... I saw her quoted in a book speaking out against NAFTA during its debate and seeming to be a strong advocate for the blue collar workers. I have also seen her several times on C-Span and CNN and was very impressed with her. Does anyone else have an opinion or information on her?

[Seemann For Congress]

13. Not Marcy

Marcy's dedicated to being the Dean of the Ohio Delegation. She's in charge of recruiting House candidates and is going to stay put where she is.

She personally recruited me and her entire staff has been VERY helpful with my campaign(s), and the same goes for several House candidates from Ohio. Without her, the state would have been MUCH less organized.

I see Strickland running for Senate. He is a liberal, speaks like a liberal, but comes off as moderate-to-conservative in the red counties. Amazing how he does it.

[Deep13]

12. Strickland?

"You think someone like Strickland?"

Word on the street is that he is extremely retiscent to do the kind of grunt-work ass-kissing necessary for fund-raising. Otherwise, he is an attractive candidate.

Four years ago, DeWine ran against a token candidate. He may be rich, but he is not that popular outside of his religious base.

Of course there is perennial talk of Sherrod Brown running for statwide office, but I doubt he will risk his House seat for that.

Our real problem is that we have so few potential candidates that are known state-wide. Also, the primary greatly favors Cuyahoga County candidates who seem to have very little chance state wide.

[gmatusak]

14. Think Portune!

I agree - DeWine is VERY beatable, but I also believe that y'all have missed a great candidate - Hamilton County Commissioner Todd Portune. Commissioner Portune is very strong in southern Ohio (he beat Bush in Hamilton County for goodness sake) and is the only Democrat to win consecutive terms on the Commission in 40 years. What do you think?

[Jeff in Cincinnati]

15. Hey!

About time you showed up here, amigo!

Todd went from serving with two very reasonable Republicans to serving with two rightwing maniacs. Couldn't blame him if he wanted another gig.

[newyawker99]

20. Hi gmatusak!!

Welcome to DU!! :toast:

[Name removed]

32. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[Kolesar]

16. Eric Fingerhut?

Voinovich was a difficult target, him being mayor of Cleveland and Governor. Dewine has got to be easier to defeat. Fingerhut seems quite bright.

[AndrewCMc78]

17. Fingerhut has a shot.

I like Fingerhut too. I think he had the right idea, just not the resources to take out Voinovich last year. I think he do better against the very beatable DeWine esspecially if Dewine only won 60 40 against a placeholder (I havn't looked at DeWine's last win.) As for the governor's race. I think Strickland would be good for that.

[Kolesar]

18. Hey!

Welcome to our forum! :hi: Isn't New Concord where John Glenn is from?

[AndrewCMc78]

19. Re: Hey!

Yep I go to Muskingum College where I'm the Presdient of the Young Dems.

[Name removed]

33. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[magilla gorilla]

21. Dewine

Sherrod Brown would be my pick. Although I would rather he run for Governor. And Jane Campbell could be a candidate too.

[Ken Burch]

22. No one's mentioned Kucinich, so far...why not give him a shot?

If nothing else, the presidential campaign DID give him much greater name familiarity, and on a statewide basis he could conceivably put together an underdog Wellstone-like campaign.

Give it a thought, anyway.

[pauliedee]

23. Senator Kucinich sounds Great!!!!

Senator Kucinich sounds Great!!!! He's got name recognition and is big on keeping jobs in Ohio.....Could have a good chance!!!!

[Hippo_Tron]

24. If the man can win a Senate seat in Ohio

You can damn well bet that people will start taking his ideas seriously.

[newyawker99]

26. Hi magilla gorilla!!

Welcome to DU!! :toast:

[newyawker99]

34. Hi magilla gorilla!!

Welcome to DU!! :toast:

[CpUltravox]

25. Campbell?

Jane? Ick. I'm not sure she could carry Cleveland right now.

Coleman is a good choice, but I wouldn't run unless he would win for sure... I mean, the last thing we need is for our only hope for a star right now to get bounced by DeWine.

For the most part, I hatehatehate recycling candidates. It's even harder to win when you've got the scarlet "L" for loser branded on the forehead, especially when you get bounced like someone like Fingerhut did, both to LaTourette up here in my neck of the woods and by Voinovich. I mean, in his last two BIG races, he's lost like 66-33.

It's a frustrating task, I mean - we've got like...5 or 6 real statewide names, Kucinich, Strickland, Brown, Kaptur, Coleman, Fingerhut, I guess.... Kucinich would be a good candidate, but I don't know if he could win. He's too marginalized outside the party.

Kaptur won't run, and to her inifinite credit, this party wouild be in 10x more shambles right now in Ohio than it is. She's the one person who, if she moved to the senate, even if she won, would only serve to hurt Ohio - not because she'd be an ineffective senator, but because she's SO powerful a house member. She might be one of the 10 or 20 most powerful democrats there are in America. She'd lose that instantly by becoming Ohio's junior senator.

Springer's a band-aid - and that's why he'd be the best candidate. This party needs some serious, serious party building in Ohio before it can even HOPE to put up a continuous string of top-level state candidates like the Republicans can. Springer's the one candidate who could pull off a "shock" win, yet at the same time, not hurt the party if he lost. I hate to be gunshy, but as long as we keep putting up not-ready-for-primetime candidates against the Republican machine... nothing is going to change... and on top of it, all of our potential candidates will be best known by a race that they lost.

I hate it. It's an awful truth. But I think we need to start thinking purely long term, because I'm not sure we can be all that effective short-term.

[Steele]

30. Campbell...

Has issues. There are scores of people in Cleveland who are unhappy with her going behind the backs of City Council and the people in striking a deal to bring Wal-Mart to Steelyard Commons. She would not have alot of labor support, making a Senate run harder than for other Dems.

[ArtVandaley]

27. Sherrod Brown

He could definately take him, especially if DeWine gets hit from the right in the primaries.

[cmd]

28. Jerry.

[Steele]

29. His radio show seems to have helped him

I was up in Cleveland for the Cuyahoga County Democratic Party Dinner a few weeks ago and he sounded like someone who was wanting to run for a "national" seat. People were still talking about him being a candidate for governor, but his speech was of a more global tone. It wasn't focused on the problems facing only Ohioans, but those facing people from all over and how the US is seen in other parts of the world.

If he runs, he has great name recognition, the free media he would get would be amazing. Coverage would come not only from local papers, but national and international as well. The show could be used to raise more money (though he may have to give it up so he wouldn't have to deal with equal time requirements). He has his own money, but can raise alot more. The RNC would have to spend more money and time here than usual, maybe opening up a few other senate seats.

We will see...

[BillORightsMan]

35. It's getting LATE for 2006! Where's Dennis White's Leadership?

Here we have Strickland and Coleman both vying for the Governor's Mansion, and the GOP are already hitting both of them hard on TV, radio & press in the Columbus market (I'm from CLE OH now working in COL OH).

Yet we have Big Denny White, so-called leader of the Ohio Dem party, and we have NO VIABLE ANNOUNCED CANDIDATE to take on DeWine in 2006 yet!!!

Fingerhut (I believe) was a Dem victim of the funny bizness that went on in the 2004 sElection (the voting "irregularities" affected down-ticket races too) and media blackout (including the debate, where he tore Voinovich up) and ZERO help from the DSCC. Springer's got his new AAR show and would have announced already and not taken that gig if he was running. Howard Dean has been in a whole bunch of states doing his DNC fundraising, but REFUSES to come back to the scene of the 2004 Crime! Why is that? Where is the DSCC?

I think we all should write Big Denny and find out who's gonna run against DeWine already! CRIPES!!!

We have 17 months to grab this low-hanging fruit and we have NO CANDIDATE!!!

Ya think the GOPhers are sittin' around? They probably have their yard signs and flyers all printed up already, with their AMWAY-style distribution ready to go.

If I don't see SOMEBODY take the reigns in the NEXT TWO MONTHS, maybe I should file!!!

(sounds pretty good, Senator O'Rights, no?)

BTW, I'm in Coleman's camp, fwiw. He was one of the first to back General Wes Clark in 2003.