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HARD TO GET

What does Ted Strickland have to do to land Mike Coleman's endorsement?

By Dan Williamson / May 4, 2006

A young man wearing a ball cap and a T-shirt approached Mike Coleman Tuesday morning at a jobs fair at the Easton Hilton. He told the mayor he wished he could have voted for him for governor that day and added, "I don't trust Blackwell."

Coleman asked the man if he knew who else was running for governor.

"Petro," the man said. "I don't trust him either."

"Is anyone else running?" Coleman asked.

"Strickland," the man said.

Coleman smiled and nodded. "That's right," he said.

So far, that's as close as Coleman has come to endorsing Ted Strickland for governor.

Strickland accepted his party's nomination Tuesday night after scoring an easy victory in the Democratic primary. He starts the fall campaign with a double-digit lead in the polls over his Republican opponent, Ohio Secretary of State Ken Blackwell, not to mention a bigger campaign war chest.

But what he doesn't have is the support of Coleman—the mayor of Ohio's largest city—who spent most of last year running against Strickland for the Democratic gubernatorial nomination.

A congressman who represents rural communities along the state's eastern border, Strickland gives Democrats a realistic hope of winning votes in areas Republicans have been winning for years. But Coleman said he wants to make sure the party doesn't win over those red counties at the expense of blue cities.

"He's moving in the right direction," Coleman said of Strickland. "But I am not going to support somebody unless they have an urban agenda that I agree with that represents my city."

To many Strickland supporters, Coleman's coyness is more than a little irritating. They look at the mayor and see a sore loser and a disloyal Democrat.

Coleman said he knows how it looks.

"I can hear it now: 'Oh, it's all personal,'" the mayor said Tuesday. "Yeah, if it's personal, I would have supported him by now, because I like the guy. He's a good, quality candidate, a good, quality person. I have a lot of good things to say about him."

But not enough good things. Already miffed at a Statehouse that he believes takes away cities' home-rule rights while adding guns to their streets, Coleman said he's afraid a Gov. Strickland could continue Ohio's anti-city policies. Until the candidate reassures him otherwise, he's withholding his support.

And, Coleman noted, "It's not just me."

Indeed, Cleveland Mayor Frank Jackson, Dayton Mayor Rhine McLin, Akron Mayor Don Plusquellic and Youngstown Mayor Jay Williams—Democrats all—have refrained from jumping on the Strickland bandwagon. Along with Congresswoman Stephanie Tubbs Jones of Cleveland, the Democratic dissenters make a formidable bunch.

The mayors are particularly dismayed about a state law that nullified city laws requiring municipal employees to live within city limits. State Rep. Chris Redfern—who is also Strickland's handpicked state Democratic Party chairman—voted for the law, and Strickland himself has not taken a position on it.

Cleveland, Akron and Youngstown this week asked the Ohio Supreme Court to block the law. Although Columbus has a relatively liberal residency requirement that is unaffected by the new statute, Coleman said cities should be allowed to make their own rules without state interference.

That sentiment also applies to another bill, which would nullify the Columbus assault-weapons ban signed by Coleman last year. Strickland has said that as governor he would sign the proposal, which passed the House and is pending in the Senate.

"I honestly don't expect agreement on every issue," Coleman said. "I understand that, and I understand political strategy. But I also understand that if they want to be governor, it matters now who we endorse and support."

If the governor's race tightens, as many predict, it will matter quite a bit.

Blackwell's best hope for victory is to peel off black voters, most of whom live in the big cities, by convincing them to make history by electing Ohio's first African-American governor.

Strickland can counter Blackwell's efforts if those cities' black political leaders—such as Coleman, Jackson, Tubbs Jones, McLin and Williams—work to keep those voters in the Democratic fold. But if they're sitting on the sidelines, Strickland's task will become more difficult.

"We want to make sure that if we elect a Democrat, that they're going to be responsive to urban issues. We're tired of getting kicked around," Coleman said.

"We've been kicked around by Republicans. We have no influence over there. We have some influence over here."

Surrounded by an adoring crowd at the Hyatt Regency Tuesday, Strickland didn't seem eager to dwell on the handful of Democrats who aren't supporting him yet.

"It really doesn't trouble me," Strickland said minutes after delivering his acceptance speech and submitting to a private interview with Fox News. "I work as hard as I know how to work to get as much support as I can get, and other people have got to decide where they are and who they're going to support."

He said he's spoken to most of the mayors, but he ruminated silently for several seconds when asked if he knew what, exactly, it is the mayors want.

"It's hard for me to answer that question," he said, "because I know some things. But I'm not sure I know everything that may be involved."

Some pro-Strickland Democrats say what's really involved is the egos of Coleman and his crew: They didn't want Strickland to be the party's nominee and didn't want Redfern to be the party's chairman, so now they're going to hold their collective breath until somebody pays them attention.

"I wouldn't say that," Strickland said. "I think there are legitimate issues that need to be discussed and worked out."

Redfern echoed Strickland's comments.

"I don't dismiss any concerns," Redfern said. "I think the Democratic Party over the course of the last 15 or 16 years has failed in some regards in supporting issues that are important to mayors, and these mayors want to end that perception."

However, Coleman and the other mayors aren't concerned about the Democratic Party for the last 15 or 16 years. They're concerned about this year's Democratic Party under Redfern.

While conceding that Redfern isn't "totally anti-city," Coleman cited Redfern's votes for the residency-requirement override and the concealed-carry law passed in late 2003.

"He has had many votes that have been anti-city, anti-urban area, and yet he comes back around the other side with his Democratic Party chair hat, saying, 'We need ya,'" Coleman said. "Yeah, right."

Redfern appeared exasperated by Coleman's remarks.

"That's wrong," he said. "I beg to differ with the mayor—and I appreciate his concerns."

Redfern said his consistent and passionate support of local government funds, among other issues, demonstrates his commitment to cities.

"I understand that this party has a lot of work to do to continue to reach out to mayors, and we're going to do that," Redfern said.

"If the mayor has a wall for me to run through, point to it, and I'll do it. His agenda is my agenda is the Democratic Party's agenda."

Columbus City Councilman Kevin Boyce pointedly invoked another city's mayor rather than his own when asked about Strickland's mayor problem.

"I've talked to Mayor Mallory in Cincinnati, and he's very excited about his candidacy," Boyce said.

Coleman was dismissive of the Queen City boss, however.

"Yeah, Mark endorsed a long time ago," he said, referring to Mallory, who until this year was a state senator. "He comes from the legislature."

Democratic state lawmakers have been enthusiastic about Strickland from the beginning. In fact, many of them, including Redfern, endorsed Strickland while Coleman was still in the race.

"I know they want me just to say, 'Hey, I'm on board,' and we've had plenty of people already do that," Coleman said. "They're fine. I'm looking at what's in the best interest of my city, ultimately."

This isn't the first time Coleman has been on a separate page from the rest of his party.

Last week, the mayor endorsed underdog challenger Subodh Chandra for attorney general after the party gave its blessing to state Sen. Marc Dann, who handily won the nomination Tuesday.

In late 2003, when Democrats in the rest of the country seemed to be settling on Howard Dean for president, Coleman endorsed Wesley Clark. One reason Coleman didn't care for Dean is he called Columbus "Columbia" when he came to visit.

Luckily for Strickland, Coleman seems to like him a lot more than he liked Dean.

"We've got good chemistry," the mayor said. "And I think he would say the same thing. This is purely issues."

What issues, exactly, does Strickland need to come around on?

Coleman said he and his fellow mayors don't have a litmus test. He said he knows Strickland isn't going to change his position on guns and doesn't expect him to. He said he just wants to get to where he can trust him.

Strickland thinks he can make inroads on that point by inviting the mayors to help him craft "a specific urban agenda for the great cities of our state."

Coleman said he sees "progress on Strickland's part," but that the mayors' coalition wants to see more.

"I cannot in good conscience be there until they're there for us," Coleman said. "That's the way it'll work."

For more realistic analysis of the severely fractured Ohio Democratic Party

Democratic Party, Heal Thyself!
http://ohio2006elections.blogspot.com/2006/04/1...

Ohio Democratic Party... ignore Stephanie Tubbs-Jones at your peril
http://watchodp.blogspot.com/

The Carano brothers seem like great guys and it appears they are doing credible work to promote issues and ideals that are important to NORTHEAST Ohio people. However, Ohio is a big state and it truly seems as if few NORTHEAST Ohio Democrats/Progressives venture south of Route 30 to more deeply understand the different cultures and politics of the other 2/3 of the state.

I viewed a photo with a PDA story about Cindy Sheehan's visit to Akron. There was a sign above the stage that said "Department of Peace" (Dennis Kucinich's mantra). Understand that I'm all for peace, but as a South of Route 30 Progressive Democrat, I get queasy having Dennis Kucinich constantly shoved down my throat by NORTHEAST Ohioans.

Kucinich does NOT represent the values of South of Route 30 Progressive Democrats. Kucinich was badly beaten years ago when he ran for Governor and was embarrassed in 2004 when he only received 8 percent or so of the Democratic Ohio primary vote for President. I'll give Dennis the benefit of the doubt and say that he has maybe 10 percent support from all Ohio Democrats.

With this in mind, the Caranos and all NORTHEAST Ohio Democrats should cease shoving this brand of Kucinich-like "Progressives" (including Sherrod Brown) down unaccepting South of Route 30 Progressive Democrats throats. We live in a different world than Kucinich and his tiny niche of followers. We live in the REAL WORLD of Midwest and Ohio politics ... not Dennis' fantasy land.

It was wrong of Governor candidate Ted Strickland, US Senate Candidate Sherrod Brown and then Ohio House Minority Leader Chris Redfern to manipulate the state chair elections (I was there). Strickland and Redfern have wrongly alientated both the African American and Realistic Progressive communities (I am a witness to both). Also, the Ohio Democratic Party under Redfern and the Sherrod Brown campaign staff did uncountable amounts of harm to Paul Hackett, who is the darling of South of Route 30 Progressive Democrats. Then to add insult to injury, Strickland, Brown and Redfern ramrodded an unjustified candidate endorsement process through the Ohio Democratic Party that basically took nearly all my rights to vote in the primary away.

This is the sort of people that Tim Carpenter, Kevin Spidel and the brothers Carano are befriending in what I view as false hopes to form a Progressive Caucus and Anti-War Townhall Meetings. I wish all the best of luck, but I wouldn't get my hopes up too high if I were you.