Editorial Boards hammer Strickland; bloggers look the other way

Liberal editorial boards in Ohio just aren’t buying the Strickland talking points these days.  To them Strickland is a coward playing politics while the Ohio budget goes up in flames.  They want him to be man enough to raise taxes in order to save programs from cuts and then worry about getting elected.

Bloggers seem more interested in blaming the GOP.

Ellen Belcher is a good example of the editorial boards.  She argues that Strickland’s “backers are disappointed, and they have a right to be. He’s not getting it done, and he’s selling out.”

On education:

He had two years to figure out what to do on school funding. When he rolled out his big plans, he endorsed requiring children to go to school for longer periods, and he wants to raise the academic bar to get more kids to college.

But when it came to paying for his changes, he didn’t have any brilliant ideas, and when it came to spending money, he pretended that the lack of it doesn’t matter. Mostly, he wants credit for intentions.

On gambling and the budget:

Now about his proposal to allow slot machines at race tracks in the hope of bringing in almost $1 billion to bridge a newly discovered $3.2 billion gap: This is a total sell-out.

A Methodist minister, a psychologist who knows about addiction, a politician who has adamantly opposed casinos is suddenly going to support throwing up slot machines?

The government is not going to be content selling you Lottery tickets, but also is going to entice you to drop money in its machines that are stacked against you?

This is political desperation gone mad.

On the budget:

The governor alone isn’t accountable for Ohio’s well-being. But he is the man at the top. And he has an obligation to level with people about what will happen if Ohio just cuts its way out of its hole.

He has shamelessly not done that. And it’s because his foremost concern is being re-elected.

For the party line blogger version see below.

To take the latest in the party line we have Kelley Bell-Wenzlaff (aka Apple Sassy) at the Huffington Post.  And who is the villain in this piece?  Why Bill Harris, John Kasich and the GOP of course.

Strickland is the hard working leader while Bill Harris is the grubby politician:

Democratic Governor Ted Strickland has reluctantly agreed to allow slot machines at Ohio racetracks to avoid raising taxes. The move will bring in $933 million dollars of much needed revenue while saving the failing Ohio Horseracing industry and all the jobs that come with it. Republican Senate President Bill Harris was all for that idea when the GOP proposed it in 2007, but now is digging in against the Democratic version like a donkey refusing to pull a plow. Why? Is it because he had a change of heart? No. He is stalling the approval of the all important Ohio Budget because he is making a political power play on behalf of his party.

He is gambling that by stalling the budget process on this issue, the GOP will win the 2010 election, putting candidate John Kasich in the saddle as Governor. Kasich will be able to overcome his connections to the Lehman Brothers Wall Street mess if he assaults Ohio voters with a barrage of television ads demonizing our current Methodist pastor and Governor as a riverboat gambler, and devil in disguise. I can just see the ads now, with dark creepy shadows, sneering smiles, and slot machines. I wouldn’t be surprised if they draw a pencil thin mustache on his picture. Oh, it’s gonna be ugly.

Governor Strickland wants the budget to pass and is working hard to force the legislature to remain in session and get the job done as elected officials grumble about missing golden opportunities to eat hotdogs and hug babies at 4th of July parades. But Bill Harris doesn’t care about that. In the hierarchy of politics, the governorship is the jackpot, and budget- be-damned, he is bound and determined to win it for the GOP.

There are a couple of things that I find comical in this post:

1. The idea that the GOP is playing politics while the Dems are leading.  Not only does this run counter to just about every editorial and all the reporting on the budget debate but common sense.  Are we really to believe that Strickland isn’t thinking about his re-election?  That he changed his mind about slots only because he cares about the programs that might be cut otherwise?  Why do you think he made the no tax increases pledge to begin with?  Intelletual integrity? This just in: politicians engage in politics!
2. As I have noted before, both side are playing politics on the gambling issue.  But this hypocrisy charge against Harris doesn’t work.  There is a clear difference between allowing video bets on horse races and expanding the lottery to include slots.  One is just another form of the gambling that goes on at racetracks already and the other is a expansion of gambling that the voters have opposed. You may not like it, but opposing the expansion of gambling without a vote of the people is a consistent position.
3. I love how the GOP is plotting to “demonize” Strickland.  Who was it that changed his strongly stated and long held position at the very last minute?  Who wants to go around the clearly stated position of the voters?  Is flip-floping on such an important issues suddenly commendable? And yet Harris is stubborn and Strickland is the leader.
4. I love the constant attempt to connect Kasich to financial crisis because he worked for Lehman Brothers.  I also love the fact that she acknowledges that voters are unlikely to care given the economic woes of the state.  Hmm, a tangential connection to Wall Street versus 11% unemployment and a budget meltdown …

Liberals, however, are stuck.  Strickland won’t take the gamble of raising taxes so this means cuts to programs liberals care about. As Belcher noted:

If Gov. Ted Strickland is re-elected next year, it will be because his supporters have nowhere else to go.

This may very well be true of his liberal supporters – I suppose that is why they talked to Alec Baldwin – but are they so sure that is true of independents and moderates?

And that is why bloggers and party activists are busy “demonizing” Bill Harris and throwing up lame accusations against John Kasich.  Because they know Strickland is in big trouble with this budget and the economic situation.

All I have to say is: you better come up with some better arguments pretty soon.