Ted Strickland Redux: Governor Kasich’s Guarantee For Reelection

You’ve heard us tell you before that Governor Strickland and his band of misfit toys are definitely considering another run for governor in 2014. Of course, we couldn’t be more ecstatic to see the man who lost Ohio 400,000 jobs match up against the man currently turning this state around.

He’s added jobs, made Ohio more attractive to business, surrounded himself with the best talent and all while tackling Ohio’s largest budget deficit in history.

Of course, if you’re to believe Strickland, that $8 billion deficit he handed off to Kasich wasn’t really all that much:

"He did not have an $8-billion deficit, that is simply factually incorrect," Strickland said.

Alright, Mr. Strickland, have it your way. In May of 2011, the Plain Dealer crunched the numbers, show that the deficit was closer to $6 billion:

Add up all the extra revenue and you get $1.6 billion to $1.8 billion. So the real deficit is actually turning out to be about $5.9 billion to $6.1 billion.

Ok, you got me, Strickland. You didn’t leave the state dead in a ditch… you left her bruised, beaten and bleeding from the ears.

The fact of the matter is, under Governor Strickland’s watch, Ohio lost more jobs and saw the unemployment rate rise to the highest levels in over a quarter-century. And when he was faced with his own budget deficits in 2009, he raised taxes on hardworking Ohio families.

Of course, we could pick apart Strickland’s absurd assertion that Kasich cut education funding, when he actually increased the state’s share. Strickland, however, used one-time stimulus money to backfill his obligations to Ohio’s schools.

So after Ohio’s credit outlook was upgraded and jobs started to return to the Buckeye State—all under Governor Kasich—does Strickland really want to bring his record of epic failure back for another go around?

If the only ammo he’s packing is to argue over whether he left an $8 billion or $6 billion budget deficit, Governor Kasich’s reelection is all but guaranteed.

Cross-posted at GOHP Blog.