As He Packs It In, Strickland Offers Words Of Woody Guthrie: Folksinger Wrote About America's Bounty, Hardships of Downtrodden

Woody Guthrie

CINCINNATI (TDB) -- Outgoing Democratic Ohio Gov. Ted Strickland is telling disappointed supporters to find solace in the the words of Woody Guthrie.  Strickland quotes the folksinger who said he refused to write song lyrics "that makes you think that you are not any good."  Guthrie died in 1967, but he remains a giant who chronicled the Depression, the Dust Bowl and patriotism in the face of despair.  The quote Strickland chose to put in his concession speech Tuesday night -- and which may tie him forever to Guthrie -- is about pride, work and simple virtue overcoming ill fortune.  Strickland is from Appalachia and grew up in hardscrabble poverty; Guthrie was from Oklahoma and knew a hardscrabble existence.  Nobody is really sure where Guthrie delivered the words that Strickland is citing -- probably off-the-cuff during one of his zillions of performances.  It seems to originally appear in print in a 1965 paperback called Born To Win, a 251-page book that contains drawings, scribblings, poems and musings from Guthrie, who is listed as the author.  The book is out of print.

Here's the quote as used by Strickland:  "I hate a song that makes you think that you are not any good. I hate a song that make you think you are just born to lose.  No good to nobody.  No good for nothing.  Because you are too old or too young or too slim or too ugly or too this or too that.  Songs that run you down or poke fun at you on account of your bad luck or hard traveling.  I am out to fight those songs to my very last breath of air and my last drop of blood.  I am out to sing songs that will prove to you that this is your world and it it has hit you pretty hard and knocked you for a dozen loops, no matter what color, what size you are, how you are built.  I am out to sing the songs that make you take pride in yourself and in your work."

Strickland did not use the rest of Guthrie's words, which go on to say:  "And the songs I sing are made up for the most part by all sorts of folks just about like you.  I could hire out to the other side, the big money side, and get several dollars every week just to quit singing my own kind of songs and to sing the kinds that knock you down still farther and the ones that poke fun at you even more and the ones that make you think that you've not got any sense at all.  But I decided a long time ago that I'd starve to death before I'd sing any such songs as that.  The radio waves and your movies and your jukeboxes and your songbooks are already loaded down and running over with such no good songs as that anyhow."

Mark Allan Jackson, whose 2002 Louisiana State University PhD dissertation is considered authoritative about Guthrie's life and philosophy saw Guthrie as a beacon for essential human rights. He saw Guthrie as a man who watched people suffer hard times in dignity.

"Considering its sympathy for suffering Dust Bowlers, disenfranchised tenant farmers and abused migrant workers, Guthrie's work . . . could be denounced as being biased. Where, critics might say, are the bums and drunkards, lay-abouts and louses in his description of these people? How is it that all those whose suffering Guthrie captures stand amongst these noble poor who had had their fortunes and rights unjustly denied? . . . In effect, Guthrie wanted to express the other side of the situation in his song lyrics by describing the dehumanizing, demoralizing conditions that the Dust Bowlers, the tenant farmers and the Okie migrant laborers suffered under in America during the Great Depression. By providing these stories in a sympathetic voice, he not only exposes the unfulfilled promise of the 'Land of Opportunity' and other national myths but urges the audience to feel for the people who inhabit the songs." 

That was Ted Strickland. He felt sympathy for the people who inhabit the songs, he wanted to serve them, he wanted no one repressed and marginalized and, like Woody, dreamed of an Ohio with pastures of plenty.

'Jobs Czar' Lee Fisher Joins 591,000 Ohioans Seeking Work: Resume Must Disclose He Was Deadweight Dud On Dem Ticket

Lee Fisher Deserves Some Blame

CINCINNATI (TDB) -- There are those who are saying today that, "Lee Fisher, quite simply, cost Ted Strickland re-election."  The line originated with Tim Russo at Plunderbund.  And the fact is, Fisher's run for the U.S. Senate was punchless, disastrous, callous, inept, a massive display of ego, the mission of a fool.  Ohio's lieutenant governor did nothing to help the statewide ticket -- he could not raise money, he could not inspire voters, he was a human punching bag for Republican Sen.-elect Rob Portman, who pummeled Fisher.  Every campaign spot by Portman had the add-on impact of delivering a body blow to Strickland.  Fisher was in charge of creating jobs in Ohio -- he couldn't even make one for himself.  Now he's headed for the unemployment lines, where he will join 10% of the state's workforce. Fisher deserves to stand in that line; the other Ohioans deserve paychecks and careers.  To call Fisher an albatross around the neck of Gov. Ted Strickland's unsuccessful re-election campaign would be an insult to albatrosses.  Fisher is a loser -- he lost the 1994 race for attorney general, he lost the 1998 race for governor against Bob Taft.  He was pulverized by Portman on Nov. 2, 2010.    

Plunderbund's Russo has a great analysis of Fisher's anthrax-like harm to the statewide ticket. And he wonders why so many of the state's Democratic leaders were blind to his toxic presence:

"Establishment Democrats at the very top of our party were hell bent on preserving Lee Fisher for Rob Portman to destroy.  DSCC chair Bob Menendez was quite explicit in his threats to Jennifer Brunner. The crowning glory was the total abdication by EMILY’s List of their entire reason for being, abandoning a progressive woman statewide office holder in favor of a male establishment pillar built on sand who they must have known was about to collapse.  It’s hard to imagine a more effective way of destroying your organization’s credibility, and EMILY’s List did that for Lee Fisher.
Then, they all went away.  Every one of the people who made threats of lost state business, who acquiesced to those threats, thus stifling Jennifer Brunner’s fundraising, was nowhere to be found as Lee Fisher literally vanished during the summer, then in a last ditch effort to apparently entertain himself, spiraled into self-parody.

"What was Lee’s effect on the rest of the ticket?  Fatal.  My, how we can count the ways….but one stands out.  Blindingly so.  When Lee Fisher demanded and received the double-dip title of  'jobs czar,' neither he nor Ted Strickland probably expected the entire world economy to collapse in 2008.  Well, it did.  At that point, it should have been clear to every Democrat in Ohio, or Washington DC, that Lee’s presence at the top of the ODP ticket in 2010 would make every Rob Portman 'jobs' attack a double dip, too – those ads would hit Ted Strickland just as hard as they hit Lee Fisher."

Tight Ohio Race Will Trigger Federal Lawsuit: Democrats Said Prepared For Court Fight Over Provisional Ballots

Al Franken had to lawyer up 

CINCINNATI (TDB) -- If the battle for governor or any other statewide races end up to close to call on election night, the Ohio Democratic Party plans to litigate to make sure all votes are tallied properly.  ODP will fight a legal battle in U.S. District Court -- most likely Cincinnati or Columbus -- to ensure that all 88 counties tabulate provisional ballots uniformly and use the same methods.  Democratic sources confirmed by e-mail within the last hour that the federal voting rights case would be filed in the Southern District of Ohio, which has U.S. judges located in Cincinnati, Columbus and Dayton.  Provisional ballots are set aside and counted 10 days after the general election.  Independent statewide polls show Kasich and Strickland in a virtual dead heat.   If the election comes out that close, get ready for the lawyers.  The Columbus Dispatch reported today that the Dems were already seeking a federal court order:

"Yesterday, the Ohio Democratic Party filed a request for a federal court order to require county elections boards to provide voter addresses and other identifying information from provisional-ballot envelopes upon request."

The line appeared in Dispatch reporter Mark Niquette's long story that suggested a close race between Democratic Gov. Ted Strickland and Republican John Kasich could become a legal fight. However, if there was such a lawsuit already pending, it was not publicly available in the court clerk's offices Tuesday.  Other elections officials told The Daily Bellwether that the Ohio Democratic Party had written to local boards of elections trying to gain access to addresses and other info from provisional ballot envelopes.  Hamilton County had gotten one of the letters, and apparently turned down the ODP request.  Litigation in close elections is nothing new -- it took months for Minnesota officials to decide if Al Franken won that state's U.S. Senate seat in 2008.  Franken had a 312-vote margin that was recognized by the Minnesota Supreme Court nearly seven months after the election.  And everybody recalls Bush v. Gore and the U.S. Supreme Court 5-4 ruling that said George Bush won the presidency even though he lost the popular vote.

Hamilton County Democratic Sample Ballot Election 2010: Ohio Gov. Ted Strickland Leads The Ticket

Click It and Print It

CINCINNATI (TDB) -- Here's the Democratic Party line-up that is on the ballot Tuesday Nov. 2, 2010 in Hamilton County, Ohio.  Gov. Ted Strickland heads the list, Hamilton County Commissioner David Pepper is there on the card, and U.S. Rep. Steve Driehaus. D-01, is the in the middle.  Scan down a bit and you will spot the names of Dusty Rhodes, who is running for reelection as County Auditor, and Jim Tarbell, who is seeking a seat on the Hamilton County Commission.  State Rep. Connie Pillich is after another two-year term in the Ohio House of Representatives.  Her opponent, Mike Wilson, is a founder of the Cincinnati Tea Party.

And don't forget to vote in the the judicial races, including Bill Mallory, Nadine Allen, Jody Luebbers and Steve Black.  You can print out this official Hamilton County sample ballot and take it to the polls operated by the Hamilton County Board of Elections.  The sample ballot is nice and blue.



John Kasich's Top Advisers Include Lehman Brothers Lobbyist: Failed Wall Street Firm's Fingerprints All Over Ohio Campaign

Lehman Brothers Lobbyist Form

CINCINNATI (TDB) -- A lobbyist who represented Lehman Brothers is a key figure in Republican candidate for Ohio governor John Kasich's campaign.  Robert F. Klaffky worked for the failed Wall Street investment bank as a registered "legislative agent" in Columbus between 2000 and 2008.  Those years coincide with Kasich's time as Lehman Brothers managing director.  Klaffky's lobbyist registration form shows he reported to a Lehman Brothers office on the 11th floor of a building at 399 Park Avenue in midtown Manhattan.  For a time, that address gilded the most expensive office building in the world.  It was purchased for $1.06 billion in 2002.  399 Park Avenue is a 41-story office building that houses the world headquarters of Citigroup.  Lehman Brothers collapsed in bankruptcy in late 2008 -- it demise worsened the Great Recession and waves of woe are still washing over the U.S. economy.  Klaffky stopped lobbying for Lehman Brothers in December 2008 when the firm went belly up. 

Klaffky's Ohio lobbyist registration documents can be found by searching here, which takes you to the portal of the Joint Legislative Ethics Committee. The Daily Bellwether has posted a 2008 form filed by Klaffky that discloses his affiliation with Lehman Brothers. Klaffky said he was engaged to handle "all issues pertaining to the client."   Kasich has tried to minimize his Wall Street connections during the campaign for governor.  For example, the Republican candidate's official biography posted on his campaign website does not mention that he was a Lehman Brothers executive.

Four months ago, Columbus Dispatch reporters Joe Hallett and Mark Niquette wrote a story naming the insiders in the campaigns of Republican Kasich and Democratic Gov. Ted Strickland. Lehman Brothers lobbyist Klaffky was lumped in the group that Kasich called his key aides.  But the story did not mention the identify of Klaffky's lobbying clients.  You can read the excerpt below: exeHneidentify the firm say w:

"Kasich described his campaign as "kind of like getting the band back together." It is a mix of longtime trusted aides from his years in Congress, such as Wayne Struble, Don Thibaut and Ben Kanzeg, and newcomers such as Hansen and communications director Scott Milburn.
Kasich gushes accolades when discussing campaign staffers and volunteers individually, saying, 'A better team, in my opinion, has never been assembled since I've lived in this state. I will live and die with them.'

"Along with paid staffers, an assortment of former co-workers, unofficial advisers and old friends can be found on any given day at Kasich's Downtown headquarters. Among them: former Lehman Brothers colleague and right-hand man Jai Chabria, who Kasich said is "like a member of my family"; Franklin County GOP Chairman Doug Preisse; lobbyist Robert F. Klaffky; and longtime personal friend Ron Hartman, a member of Kasich's Bible study group."

University of Cincinnati's Latest Ohio Poll: Kasich's Lead Is Overwhelming IN SW Ohio

Kasich Behind In Central Ohio, Up in SW Ohio

CINCINNATI (TDB) -- Today's Ohio Poll shows Democratic Gov. Ted Strickland trailing GOP nominee John Kasich statewide, with 51% of likely voters picking Kasich. The poll puts Strickland at 43% statewide with less than three weeks to Election Day. But when the numbers are broken down by geographic region, Kasich is only winning big in one section of the state, the Cincinnati area. According to the University of Cincinnati pollsters, Kasich holds a gigantic 29-point edge in the Cincinnati area -- Strickland is at 33% and Kasich 62%.  Other than that, the contest appears tight across other chunks of Ohio.

SW Ohio traditionally has been a Republican bastion and if the poll numbers are accurate it could be the region whose votes give Ohio a Republican governor over the next four years.  There is another interesting geographic wrinkle in today's Ohio Poll -- Kasich trails Strickland by an ever so tiny margin in the Columbus (Central Ohio) region. Kasich served as a Congressman from the Columbus area, and he is a well known politician there.  Kasich was also a state senator. Central Ohio is Kasich's political base, yet Strickland leads there , 49% to 48%.  Strickland's lead is razor-thin and within the poll's margin of error.  Logically, Kasich ought  be blowing Strickland out in Central Ohio because that is his backyard. But the poll suggests that Ohioans who know Kasich best -- he served as an officeholder in Central Ohio for a long time in the 1980s and 1990s -- aren't thrilled about his comeback, nor are they supporting him in droves.

Here's the geographic breakdown as reported by the Ohio Poll, which has a 3.7% margin of error. (The poll says the geographic data could fall outside the margin):

Northeast Ohio -- Strickland 47%; Kasich 49%; Don't Know 4%.
Northwest Ohio -- Strickland 39%; Kasich 45%; Don't Know 12%; Other 4%.
Central Ohio -- Strickland 49%; Kasich 48%; Don't Know, 3%.
Southeast Ohio -- Strickland 47%; Kasich 45%; Don't Know 8%.
Southwest Ohio -- Strickland 33%; Kasich 62%; Don't Know 5%

Strickland, who is from Scioto County on the Ohio River in Southeast Ohio, holds a slight lead in what is traditionally known as the Appalachian portion of the state. But the pollsters cautioned that their sample of likely voters was not large enough to ensure the results are reliable for the region.  Strickland represented the area in Congress before his election as governor in 2006. Still, it should give some comfort to Dems that the poll suggests the governor holds a slight lead in his backyard and that he also holds a slight lead on Kasich's home turf in Central Ohio.

UPDATE: 1:03 pm -- Strickland campaign manager Aaron Pickrell says the Ohio Poll has a solid reputation, but takes issue with a few of its underlying assumptions today:

"In this poll - Governor Strickland and Congressman Kasich each get 86% of their respective party's vote and Governor Strickland is winning independent voters by 1%, yet Congressman Kasich has an 8% advantage overall.  This is based on a sample that is 49% Republican, 42% Democratic and 9% Independent.  The poll conducted in September had a sample of 45% Republican, 42% Democratic and 12% Independent.  We strongly dispute a 7% Republican advantage in the turnout of this election.  If you did an apples to apples comparison of the sample used in September and the percentage of the vote each candidate receives - it would be Kasich 48% to Strickland 46%.

"Yet, even those polling numbers belie what we are seeing in early voting. Despite the so-called "enthusiasm gap," Ohio Democrats are turning out in greater numbers than Republicans. The investments that we have made in recent years in the Ohio Democratic Party have resulted in the creation of one of the strongest state parties in the nation. While the Republicans have virtually no turnout operation, the Ohio Democratic Party has a truly statewide get-out-the-vote operation that is identifying and turning out our supporters weeks before the November 2nd election.

"No one pretends this is going to be an easy election - but today's Ohio Poll does not offer an accurate snapshot of the race.  Governor Strickland is ahead by a couple of points in this race and with the superior early vote and GOTV operation - there is no question he will be successful on Election Day."

Ohio BWC Lost $56.4 Million In Lehman Bros. Investments: State Fund For Injured Workers Netted Two Pennies Per Dollar

BWC Report Shows Lehman Bros. Hit

CINCINNATI (TDB) -- The failure of Lehman Bros., the Wall Street investment bank that employed John Kasich, the GOP candidate for governor, was a financial calamity for the Ohio Bureau of Workers' Compensation.  Records dug up this week by The Daily Bellwether show BWC managed to recover just $1.54 million of $57.9 million invested in Lehman stock and bonds.  Kasich was a managing director at Lehman -- though he now tries to downplay his role at the bankrupt Wall Street firm.  A BWC investment committee report shows the Lehman holdings were liquidated two years ago as Wall Street collapsed in the worst financial mess since the Great Depression.  $10.5 million in Lehman stock was sold for $35,000.  That's right, $35,000.  $47.3 million in Lehman bonds was sold for $1.5 million.

 BWC also lost lesser amounts in AIG, Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae -- in all $94.6 million vanished as the bubble burst.  The Oct. 14, 2008 investment committee report said:  "The bulk of these losses were attributable to holdings in four troubled prominent financial services organizations whose financial conditions deteriorated rapidly due to each firms large exposure to troubled and illiquid mortgage-related assets."

BWC is a state insurance pool that is funded by businesses in Ohio who pay premiums.  If BWC's investments earn money, the premiums remain stable, or drop.  If it loses money, they go up.  Wall Street's reckless practices hurt the fund, of this there is no doubt.  Here is what the investment committee reported:

"Lehman Brothers, a large investment banking firm, was force to file for bankruptcy protection on September 15 [2008] as sit incurred a liquidity crisis precipitated by a rapidly growing lack of investor and institutional counterparty confidence resulting from its weak and deteriorating mortgage and real estate portfolios."

Kasich has contended on the campaign trail this year that he was not a wheel at Lehman Bros.  Instead, he portrays himself as a minor cog.  But there are proxy records showing he was more of a Wall Street insider than he now lets on.  Kasich was on the board of Instinet, an electronic stock trading operation in Manhattan that was a major Wall Street player and helped pioneer 24-hour trading. Instinet was bought by the NASDAQ stock exchange in 2005. There is more about the history of Instinet here. The company's proxy discloses Kasich's responsibilities at Lehman Bros., which seem to be far more extensive than his current claim that he headed a tiny two-person office in suburban Columbus. From the Instinet proxy:

John Kasich. Mr. Kasich, age 52, has been a Managing Director in the Investment Banking Group at Lehman Brothers since January 2001, where he has responsibilities across a range of industry groups, including health care, power and utilities, technology, retail and financial institutions. Prior to joining Lehman Brothers, Mr. Kasich was a member of the U.S. House of Representatives, representing Ohio’s 12th Congressional District, from 1983 to 2000, and served as Chairman of the House Budget Committee from 1995 to 2000. Prior to serving in the U.S. Congress, Mr. Kasich was an Ohio State Senator for four years. Mr. Kasich also currently serves as a director of Invacare Corporation and Worthington Industries, Inc., and is the host of the program “Heartland with John Kasich” on the Fox News Channel. Mr. Kasich is a graduate of the Ohio State University. Mr. Kasich has been a director of Instinet since June 2001.

 

Ohio Gov. Ted Strickland: I May Skip Second Term, Head Off To Margaritaville

CINCINNATI (TDB) -- Actually, the governor said he might move to Key West and open a T-shirt shop. I wonder if he'd sell political stuff while padding around in his flip flops. Would you find re-elect Obama items stocked on the shelves amid the shark teeth and sea shell necklaces at Ted's new store? Anyhow, Ohio's chief executive hints he may not be interested in running for a second term in 2010. With the economy tanking, the state budget facing red ink, the Democratic party headed for civil war over the Clinton-Obama nomination fight, Ohio's governor may be starting to wonder why he wanted the state's top job in the first place. Here's what he said about wasting away in Margaritaville:

"I want to say this as clearly as I can: I have a job I like. I don't know in fact what I'll do after my first term. I don't know if I'll go for a second term or get a T-shirt shop in Key West, Fla. Unless, I commit an impeachable offense, I'm going to be Ohio's governor for the next three years."

But why Key West, guv? Why not Kelleys Island in your own state's summer playground? Here's the problem with being governor. Every time you open your mouth, it seems somebody wants to bust your chops and point out that you should have spoken smarter. In this case, somebody will surely complain he plugged Florida while his economic develop department's tourist office is busily promoting the Lake Erie island.

OH-O2 Vic Wulsin: AFL-CIO Labor Day Picnic Is Not At Her Campaign Headquarters

CINCINNATI (TDB) -- The Wulsin for Congress Website has information posted today that wrongly suggests the Cincinnati AFL-CIO's annual Labor Day Picnic Monday is at her campaign headquarters.

Wulsin, a Democrat seeking renomination in Ohio's 2nd Congressional District for the 2008 race, actually wants supporters to join her to go to the picnic, which is at Coney Island, an amusement part on the Ohio River. Gov. Ted Strickland plans to attend the picnic, which is considered the largest in the nation.

Hopefully, Wulsin's Website will be changed quickly to display directions to the picnic as well as her campaign headquarters. The AFL-CIO's announcement is here (PDF) and says the gathering will celebrate the election victories of union-backed candidates last November.

"With this momentum felt not just in Ohio, but across the country, working families will come together politically as one force in an effort to keep the gains that have been achieved and stride toward improving working conditions that will enhance the qualities of life and provide opportunities for American workers to achieve the American dream."