Democrats Strickland, Brown rally union members in Dayton

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By Lynn Hulsey, Staff Writer Updated 1:32 AM Friday, September 3, 2010

DAYTON — In an early kick-off to the traditional Labor Day start of serious campaigning Gov. Ted Strickland and U.S. Sen. Sherrod Brown, D-Ohio, sought to portray Democrats as the party that cares most about working people.

Democrats spoke on Thursday, Sept. 2, at a pre-Labor Day rally sponsored by Teamsters Local 957 in Dayton. At least 200 people attended the rally at the union headquarters, 2719 Armstrong Lane.

Strickland, running for re-election, criticized the “radical right wing” of the Republican Party, saying their “agenda is to demonize government, their agenda is to demonize labor, their agenda is to take care of the wealthy and well off and to put the burden on the backs of the working class.”

He and Brown said Democrats are the ones looking out for the needs of everyday people and working to reverse the recession they said was brought about by Republican leadership and Wall Street.

Strickland credited Democrats in Congress and President Barack Obama for providing federal funds that kept Ohio from decimating services to balance the state budget and for saving the American auto industry.

He continued his steady criticism of his Republican opponent, former U.S. Rep. John Kasich, for his votes in Congress and his tenure working at the now-bankrupt Wall Street firm Lehman Brothers.

Kasich voted against increasing the minimum wage, in favor of the North American Free Trade Agreement and most-favored nation status for China, said Strickland.

Kasich spokesman Rob Nichols said Strickland is being hypocritical about China because Strickland twice voted for most-favored status as well when he was in Congress. Nichols also said Strickland broke his own campaign promises, presiding over the loss of about 400,000 jobs in Ohio since he took office in 2007.

“Throughout this campaign all John Kasich has talked about is getting Ohioans back to work, creating jobs and restoring prosperity in Ohio,” Nichols said.

Republicans criticized

Brown, in an earlier appearance at the Dayton Daily News editorial board, called for Senate Republicans to stop stalling passage of the Small Business Jobs Act. He said small companies desperately need help and Republicans are holding up the bill to keep Democrats from claiming success in helping businesses.

At the rally, Brown contrasted the millions of jobs created during President Bill Clinton’s tenure with far slower job growth under President George W. Bush.

“The corporate world needs to wake up. They do better under Democrats than they do under Republicans,” Strickland contended in remarks after the rally.

Curt Thome, 71, of Centerville liked what he heard at the rally, except that he thought Strickland went too easy on Kasich. And he said the Democrats “inherited an awful situation. You can blame most of this stuff on Republicans and Bush.”

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