If you ask Governor Ted Strickland or Ohio Party Chairman Chris Redfern, they don't seem to believe that's going to happen, though it appears clear that Republicans will use some of Strickland's words against him (at the bottom of this post you'll see it's already started.) Most of us expect this in politics though, it's part of the process of getting the rest of us to join them, yes, the ever popular "unity" theme where the focus switches from beating up on party members to turning to "the other guys."
For me it's one of the reasons I don't take typically take endorsements by electeds seriously, yet having seen Ted Strickland talk about Hillary in person, I do feel that he really did believe some of these comments made such as this:
At the beginning:
"These are very serious times for our nation and the world and I believe we need a serious leader who is capable of bringing about the change that I think we so desperately need," Strickland told reporters on a conference call.
Or:
"You know it's tough for a woman to seek the presidency. It's also tough for an African-American to seek the presidency and I understand that, but it seems as if, you know, there's not a double standard when it comes to Sen. Clinton seeking this office, but there's a triple and a quadruple standard and I think she's dealing with all of this with great dignity and courage," he said.
When asked what he meant by triple and quadruple standards, Strickland gave a few examples. "Well, you know, you gotta be strong. You gotta be appropriately emotional. You can't be too critical of your opponent, but you've got to be critical enough. It goes on and on and on. There are assessments made of Sen. Clinton that would never be even considered for a male candidate," he said.
It has to be difficult for him and for some of the others to have truly felt that Clinton was the more electable candidate especially given the time and energy he spent campaigning for Clinton. Yes, I realize it's what is being expected of Clinton supporters as well but there are very few political consequence for us though the pressure will increase and the message will continue as expressed in this Blade article that the goal is now that Obama is better than McCain.
The Ohio Republican Party put out a release on June 4th that points out more which is not unexpected. I believe in part that since no matter how many times he says he's not interested, the continued focus on Ted Strickland being a potential vice president for Obama makes him a target. I think many do not feel Strickland is being sincere about not wanting to be vice president, but just as I feel he was sincere about Clinton, he's sincere about not wanting to be vice president not when it was Clinton and not when it's Obama. In this situation I don't see politics creating a scenario where he would change his mind.
3 comments:
Excellent posting, LisaRenee.
It's unfortunate that The Blade does not have an excellent local political columnist with a regular, at least weekly if not daily, column.
Do you happen to remember Chase Clemens? The local rag has not had anyone near as good as he was with his column some years back; and that includes the now-long-departed Fritz Wenzel. Chase Clemens was with a local television station before his Blade assignment and before he fell to the wrath of JR Block at The Blade. Incidentally, I wonder how many people are aware that Chase was the husband of the former County Recorder Sue Rioux.
I invited Chase Clemens as a guest speaker on an annual basis when I was President of the West Toledo Democratic Club all those many years ago. He was always so insightful in that setting.
I think Ohio is going to suffer when Iowa invades it because Strickland talked bad about the Iowa caucuses and said they weren't fair or whatever. I may move back to Iowa just so I can join them in their assault.
My whole problem with the Clinton supporters at higher levels is how many supported Senator Clinton because of her policies and qualifications and how many supported her because she is a Clinton. I believe that the lay supporter actually believes she is the best candidate, but how much is just politics as you move up the political food chain.
I feel the same about most national and state leaders that support someone.
Well Scott, I am against the caucus process as well as the super delegates. So we might have some interesting discussions on that in the future.
I think for our primary process to be one that is truly democratic it has to include a way for all members of a party to be able to have a say, not just a selected few able to be at a certain location. The whole ability to be able to have a secret ballot is one that has been a foundation of our voting system. I think the primaries should reflect that.
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