It all goes back to Cathy Collins-Taylor, and her husband's high level of influence within the FOP. Strickland took some political hits for her, and the FOP endorsement is his reward.
And I called it back in May.
But we all know Strickland won't budge in his defense of his Director of Public Safety. After all, her husband, a power player in the FOP, most assuredly would punish Strickland if he failed to support her. And Ted doesn't want to lose that endorsement.The only story would have been if Strickland didn't win the endorsement of the union. It most assuredly would have caused quite an uproar within the silent circles of the left.
Fortunately, the Governor's ineptitude has saved him this time. Because he forgot to send Collins-Taylor to the Senate for approval, she still needs to go through the confirmation process. Clearly, the GOP run Senate can't allow someone like this to continue serving the public. And now Governor Strickland doesn't have to be the bad guy.
Ultimately, these endorsements will keep rolling out benefiting both sides.
The question is which can and will be best utilized, and how.
One of the very few ways endorsements can help a campaign is when they help reinforce a message of importance to the voters.
On TV, Strickland can say "And that's why I have the support of police across the state."
With his endorsement from the NFIB, Kasich can say "I have the support of small business because I know how to bring jobs to Ohio."
They both have their positives. The question is what rings more important to the voter.
UPDATE: I’ve learned from sources that in yesterday’s surprise floor fight over the FOP’s governor endorsement, a motion for a secret ballot was denied, which allowed FOP enforcers to keep track of and potentially retaliate against Kasich supporters. Even with that threat, the 174-151 vote to endorse Strickland was amazingly close. Sensing a revolt on their hands, FOP bosses relented on the next ballot—for US Senate—and allowed a secret ballot, which Rob Portman won.
No GOP candidate for Governor has won in modern Ohio politics without the support of the FOB. Strickland is the only Democratic gubernatorial candidate to get the endorsement in twenty years.
ReplyDeleteCCT's husband doesn't run the FOP anymore, and you gloss over that one of the stated reasons is the massive cuts to law enforcement John Kasich's reckless tax plan will require.
And the NFIB is a conservative organization that has never suppported a Democrat. Kind of like the NRA and Buckeye Firearms Assocation was until the GOP decided to run Kasich and DeWine this year.
1) Right. Because of Mike Taylor. Lots of rumors about how the floor votes went largely to Kasich. Interesting.
ReplyDelete2) LOL at needing to be head of the FOP to wield influence.
3) So what? What matters is how the common voter perceives it. Does support from a small business group ring more true to the average voter that doesn't know or care about the NFIB's endorsement history, or does the FOP? I imagine both have influence, but in this jobs crisis, it's safe to assume the NFIB is more important.
NFIB didn't help Blackwell...
ReplyDeleteI love how you try to understate the importance of the FOP endorsement and then update your post about how you almost got it.
You basically just wrote that the NFIB endorsement matters because you think most voters are too dumb to know its a conservative organization that always endorses the GOP candidate. Wow.
Modern,
ReplyDeleteThere is NO reason you should ever compare the Kasich campaign with the Blackwell campaign.
The endorsement of Jesus Christ himself would not have helped him in 2006.
But, ya know what, keep trying to compare Kasich 2010 with Blackwell 2006. I think you will be very disappointed if you keep it up.
Also, what is the FOB? LOL
Um, actually, there are INCREDIBLE similarities to the Kasich and Blackwell campaign. Both have polls numbers showing them underwater in favorabilty ratings. Both advocated an extremist economic agenda that caused problems for the legislative caucus.
ReplyDeleteJohn Kasich's campaign platform so far is virtually indistinguishable from what Blackwell ran on: tort reform, school "choice", tax cuts, spending cuts, pro-business regulatory environment, etc.
And both are going to be beat by Ted Strickland.
There is one difference between Kasich and Blackwell.
ReplyDeleteBlackwell got the endorsement of the Buckeye Firearms Association.