Countdown To A Real Turnaround
Strickland and Obama: Birds of a Feather
Thursday, June 3, 2010
Strickland and Obama: Birds of a Feather
Ted Strickland and Barack Obama Both Sought to “Change” the Political and Scandalous Cultures in Ohio and Washington, but Their Actions Through Political Appointments for the Benefit of Their Parties, Reminds Us That with Them It’s “Politics as Usual.”
President Barack Obama Sought to “Change” the Culture of Washington, Then Offered Political Appointments to Joe Sestak and Andrew Romanoff
The Obama White House Sought to Muscle Rep. Joe Sestak Out of the Pennsylvania Democratic Primary.
“‘Politics as usual’: To most Americans, it's be come a dirty phrase. To the Beltway crowd, it's the reflexive defense for the White House's dispatching of a former president to try muscling Rep. Joe Sestak out of the Pennsylvania Democratic primary. Obama & Co. wanted to clear the primary field for Sen. Arlen Specter. … Sorry, but this isn't "change you can believe in." (Kristen Powers, Editorial, New York Post, 6/1/10)
- “Obama promised to change Washington's culture. Instead, his White House counsel justified the White House move by pointing out that past White Houses have done Sestak-type deals, though he offered no examples.” (Kristen Powers, Editorial, New York Post, 6/1/10)
The Washington Post: White House Position on Sestak Job Offer “Unacceptable,” “Hypocritical.”
“[H]igh-handed, conclusory assurances from the White House are not enough to satisfy legitimate questions about the episode. Mr. Sestak has said for months -- and he repeated this weekend -- that the White House offered him a job if he would stay out of the primary race against Mr. Specter. … Still, the White House position that everyone should just trust it and go away is unacceptable from any administration; it is especially hypocritical coming from this one.” (Editorial, The Washington Post, 5/25/10)
And Now, We Find Out That the Obama White House Tried to Sway Andrew Romanoff from Running for the U.S. Senate.
“The Denver Post last September quoted unnamed sources that said Obama's deputy chief of staff, Jim Messina, contacted former state House Speaker [Andrew] Romanoff, who hadn't yet announced his candidacy [for U.S. Senate], with specific suggestions for Washington jobs in exchange for his staying out of the race against appointed Sen. Michael Bennet.” (Editorial, Denver Post, 6/2/10)
- President Obama's White House apparently isn't that committed to dispensing with the business-as-usual kind of politics he campaigned against. Senate primary races in Pennsylvania and Colorado instead have revealed an Obama political machine that engages in favoritism and behind-the-scenes wrangling and deal-making that seem decidedly old-school. (Editorial, Denver Post, 6/2/10)
One Shouldn’t Forget That Ted Strickland, Who Once Called for “Change” in Columbus, Appointed Republicans Jim Raussen and Bob Spada to Help the Democrats Gain the Ohio House
Strickland: People All Over Ohio Tired of the Incompetent, Corrupt and Illegal Behavior in Columbus. “Gubernatorial candidate Ted Strickland, with a busload of fellow Democratic state candidates, crisscrossed Southwest Ohio Saturday, looking for votes in a part of the state that Republicans have taken for granted. ‘People all over Ohio are tired of it - tired of the too-often incompetent, too-often corrupt and many times illegal behavior in Columbus,’ the Democratic congressman told a crowd of about 150 Democrats who gathered in Union Township Veterans Park. ‘Democrats, independents and even many Republicans know it. It is time for a change.’” (Cincinnati Enquirer, 8/20/06)
Strickland Created a “Choice Patronage” Position for Rep. Jim Raussen.
[L]ast week, Strickland did his party a favor. The Development Department, headed by Lt. Gov. Lee Fisher, created a $115,000 job for Rep. Jim Raussen, a suburban Cincinnati Republican. Why is Democrat Fisher handing out choice patronage to Raussen? Because if Raussen doesn't run for the House, his district might be winnable for a Democrat. In 2004, George W. Bush only narrowly carried Raussen's district. And no GOP-held House district has more black voters (about 21 percent, according to Ohio Manufacturers' Association data.) (Thomas Suddes, Editorial, The Columbus Dispatch, 7/27/08)
Strickland Also Appointed Sen. Bob Spada to a “Sweet Executive-Branch Patronage Job.”
In Strickland Whammy No. 2, Sen. Robert F. Spada of North Royalton is dropping out as GOP nominee for a House district held by Strongsville Republican Thomas Patton. As another absurd byproduct of term-limits, Spada and Patton aimed, if voters would've agreed, to swap General Assembly seats this November. Instead, what a coincidence: Spada is now headed, courtesy of Strickland, to a sweet executive-branch patronage job, possibly a State Employment Relations Board seat. (The board supervises public- employee collective bargaining). In 2004, Bush barely carried Patton's House district. Without a familiar GOP name such as Spada on the ballot this year, Democrats could win that House seat. (Thomas Suddes, Editorial, The Columbus Dispatch, 7/27/08)
Strickland “Channeled His Inner Vito Corleone.”
The dirtiest four-letter word in state government bobbed to the surface again this week when Democratic Gov. Ted Strickland channeled his inner Vito Corleone by making a pair of well-known Republicans job offers they couldn't refuse. Quit? No, that's not the four-letter offender we're looking for, although Cincinnati-area Rep. Jim Raussen and North Royalton Sen. Bob Spada did stop cold. Both quit campaigns in Ohio House races that were shaping up to be slugfests when Uncle Ted dropped by to take them out for summer ice cream in his shiny new convertible. Nah, this four-letter word is PERS - which stands for Public Employees Retirement System. (Cleveland Plain Dealer, 7/26/08)
Strickland’s Formula for Taking Over the Ohio House, “If You Can’t Beat ‘em, Hire ‘em.”
Gov. Ted Strickland might have found a new formula for helping his fellow Democrats capture control of the Ohio House this year: If you can't beat 'em, hire 'em. … In one day, House Republicans lost candidates in two swing seats that suddenly became much more competitive. Democrats need a net pickup of four seats to take control of the chamber for the first time since 1994. (The Columbus Dispatch, 7/23/08)
Recently, Strickland Played Partisan Politics to Avoid a Primary Battle by Referring Laketa Cole to PUCO
Cincinnati Enquirer: Laketa Cole Getting a Job with PUCO Further Evidence that Politicians are “Clueless and Callous.”
“Those who believe politicians to be a clueless and callous lot were handed a juicy Exhibit A on Thursday when the Public Utilities Commission of Ohio (PUCO) announced it was hiring Cincinnati City Councilwoman Laketa Cole as its head of ‘reliability and service analysis,’ effective June 7. Cole, with nearly two years left in her final two-year term on council, apparently took the state job because the Democratic Party sought to avoid a primary battle between her and another councilwoman-turned-state-official, Alicia Reece, for a state House seat.” (Editorial, Cincinnati Enquirer, 3/12/10)
- “According to Democratic officials, the only hang-up to the deal, which came to light recently, was the salary attached to Cole's new job. Evidently, Cole got the figure she wanted - $78,354, slightly more than Reece made as assistant director of travel and tourism before being appointed to the 33rd District House seat last week. So there.” (Editorial, Cincinnati Enquirer, 3/12/10)
- “[The position with PUCO] apparently didn't even exist until Cole ‘decided’ she wanted one in exchange for dropping her House bid - or, as Gov. Ted Strickland's spokeswoman Amanda Wurst put it, ‘expressed the interest in serving the state’ (Do these folks stay up nights thinking up euphemisms?) during a meeting in which Cole was steered toward PUCO.” (Editorial, Cincinnati Enquirer, 3/12/10)
- “[Cole’s PUCO job] wasn't listed among the state's available positions and wasn't among the 400 jobs on PUCO's year-end payroll, The Enquirer reported last week.” (Editorial, Cincinnati Enquirer, 3/12/10)
- “[PUCO’s] letter hiring Cole is dated March 5 - the same day she withdrew from the primary.” (The Cincinnati Enquirer, 3/14/10)
Records Searches Revealed the Cole Job Deal Involved Strickland’s Chief of Staff and Legislative Directors.
COLUMBUS - Newly released e-mails from Gov. Ted Strickland's office show his chief of staff and legislative directors were among those interested in helping find a high-paying job for Cincinnati Councilwoman Laketa Cole as early as Jan. 19. That was two days before state Rep. Tyrone Yates, D-Evanston, was appointed to a Hamilton County municipal court judgeship by Strickland, setting in motion a potential Democratic Party primary between Cole and former Vice Mayor Alicia Reece. (The Cincinnati Enquirer, 3/17/10)
Cincinnati Enquirer: Cole’s PUCO Job Deal, “Breathtaking in Its Arrogance.”
“Not to pick on Cole - this is just the latest example of a long-time practice - but the sheer brazenness of this arrangement is breathtaking in its arrogance.” (Editorial, Cincinnati Enquirer, 3/12/10)
@TurnaroundTed on Twitter
Turnaround Ted attacks an Ohio company, ABJ: "Strickland should know better." http://fb.me/EOlO8wkT
6 days agoRT @djtablesauce: @TurnAroundTed is a big, giant hypocrite, and one of 3BP's best ever photoshops: http://ow.ly/2snnK
2 weeks agoNEW VIDEO - House Republicans discuss Ted Strickland's hypocrisy on trade - http://ht.ly/2s6H7 #ohiogop #ohgov #tcot
2 weeks ago- Read All Tweets
