Turnaround Ted's Misplaced Priorities

The Bottom Line:  As Ohio loses hundreds of thousands of jobs and reaches unemployment rates not seen in quarter century, Gov. Ted Strickland choses to hit the campaign trail rather than lead the state's economic recovery.

• ""Gov. Ted Strickland stopped at cyclist Lance Armstrong's house in Texas last week in between fund-raising events in Austin on Thursday and Dallas on Friday. ... Strickland was on another in a series of what are called "party-building" trips out of state to raise money for his re-election bid next year and for the party. The trip marked the second straight week the governor was out of Ohio on a Thursday and a Friday for a party-building trip. He was in Los Angeles on Oct. 15-16, according to the party." (The Columbus Dispatch, 10/27/09)
   
• “Gov. Ted Strickland spent all or part of 44 days since June 1 campaigning for presidential candidate Barack Obama and other Democrats.” (The Columbus Dispatch, 11/15/08)
   
• “Ohio Gov. Ted Strickland campaigned 39 times for Democrat presidential candidate Barack Obama and Ohio House candidates after the state's March 4 primary.” (The Cleveland Plain Dealer, 11/15/08)
  
  
  • “During that time, Strickland put his work as governor aside to campaign 29 times during the work week, according the governor's schedule.”  
     
  • “[I]n the final three weeks leading up to the primary, Strickland hit the campaign trail 17 times for Democrat Hillary Clinton, his first choice for president. During that time, he campaigned five full workdays and six weekend days.”  
     
  • “Strickland's calendar shows he also campaigned with Obama's running mate Joe Biden and with Clinton, who returned to Ohio to help Obama.” 
     
  • “Strickland campaigned specifically about a half-dozen times for Democrats running for the Ohio House.” 
     
  • “Strickland campaigned more than 60 times while juggling efforts to close a massive budget shortfall and the administration's push to pass a comprehensive energy bill.” 

(Source: The Plain Dealer, 11/15/08)