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Wednesday, June 23, 2010
Kasich takes spokesman to “woodshed” over Strickland “chicken shack” comment
Republican John Kasich said on Wednesday, June 23, that he took campaign spokesman Rob Nichols “to the woodshed” over Nichols’ comment about Democratic governor Ted Strickland “having grown up in a chicken shack.”
“I just heard about it last night. I was not happy. I told Rob that. I more or less took him to the woodshed,” Kasich, who’s running against Strickland for governor, told reporters as he prepared to speak at an event in Columbus sponsored by the Columbus Chamber of Commerce.
Kasich referred to an apology that Nichols released earlier Wednesday.
Nichols’ original comment came in a prepared statement reacting to a speech on Tuesday by Yvette McGee Brown, Strickland’s lieutenant governor running mate, about their plans to help Ohio cities.
“Not until Ted Strickland feared needing their votes did he give urban Ohioans a second chance. Having grown up in a chicken shack on Duck Run, he has all but ignored our cities’ economies and their workers.”
As a boy Strickland lived briefly in a chicken coop after a fire at his family home on Duck Run in rural Scioto County.
Nichols’ comment drew sharp rebukes from Democrats who cast it as a slur against Appalachian and rural Ohio and was widely distributed on the Internet.
In his apology, Nichols said: ” I was using Governor Strickland’s own words but shouldn’t have and I apologize. When he says those things about himself it’s different than when others say them, and it could be viewed pejoratively. That certainly wasn’t intended.”
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TweetUPDATED- Kasich spokesman apologizes for “chicken shack” reference-Strickland’s “chicken shack” becomes gov race issue
Gov. Ted Strickland’s “chicken shack” appears to have become an issue in Strickland’s campaign for governor against Republican John Kasich. As a boy, Strickland lived briefly in a chicken coop after a fire at his family’s home in rural Scioto County.
“Not until Ted Strickland feared needing their votes did he give urban Ohioans a second thought,” Rob Nichols, Kasich’s campaign spokesman said in a press release on Tuesday, June 22.
“Having grown up in a chicken shack on Duck Run, he has all but ignored our cities’ economies and their workers. It’s a disgraceful record.”
On Wednesday, June 23, Nichols apologized in this email message:
“I was using Governor Strickland’s own words but shouldn’t have and I apologize. When he says those things about himself it’s different than when others say them, and it could be viewed pejoratively. That certainly wasn’t intended.”
Nichols Tuesday had commented after Yvette McGee Brown’s speech on how she and Gov. Ted Strickland would deal with the problems of Ohio cities if they win the Nov. 2 election.
McGee Brown is Strickland’s lieutenant governor running mate.
Lis Smith, Strickland’s campaign spokeswoman, took offense.
“Only the congressman from Wall Street would be so out of touch as to insult Ted’s humble upbringing,” Smith said in a press release.
“While Congressman Kasich may have spent a lot of time in boardrooms at Lehman Brothers and rubbing elbows with lobbyists at cocktail parties in Washington, Ohioans are looking for a Governor who will represent their values-and clearly that is not John Kasich.”
Chicken coop or chicken shack aside, the disagreement flared as the U.S. Census Bureau reported more shrinking problems for Ohio cities and others in the Rust Belt.
The national trends were not as pronounced in the Dayton area, the Census found.
Dayton lost an estimated 718 residents from 2008 to 2009, less than half of 1 percent. That was down from an estimated loss of 945 for 2008. Over the decade, though, the city has declined by almost 12,000, or 7.2 percent.
Click here to read more about the cities’ problems.
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