POLITICAL COVERAGE
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Well, that didn’t take long.
Within hours of former Ohio Gov. Ted Strickland announcing that he would challenge Sen. Rob Portman for Senate, Republicans and Portman's own campaign had launched two websites bashing Strickland, a series of locally targeted web ads aimed at pointing out which communities lost jobs under Strickland's tenure and a video mocking "Terrible Ted."
“I don’t necessarily think it’s an attack,” said Portman of the series of web ads that highlight companies – including DHL in Wilmington, NCR in Dayton and Axiobionics in Columbus – that left the state during Strickland’s term as governor. “It’s just sending out the differences.”
Portman wasn’t exactly ready to send Valentines, however.
Asked by reporters during a Thursday morning conference call why he went on the attack against Strickland via the ads so early in the political cycle, Portman said he didn’t necessarily believe it was an attack.
“It’s just setting out the differences,” Portman said. “We’re going to have a candid exchange of ideas in this campaign and I want people to understand that Ted Strickland’s coming back to Ohio after being head of the lobbying arm of a liberal think tank called The Center for American Progress that is out of step with Ohio on a lot of issues.”
Portman also said Strickland left Ohio in “a terrible state” as governor, not just in diminishing jobs, but also a ballooning deficit and double-digit unemployment.
“We just need to make sure people understand what’s at stake here,” he said. “I think working families in Ohio deserve to know that and to know they’re going to have a choice here. I’m going to continue to fight for them and for their future and I don’t think we can afford to go backward with Governor Strickland. I wanted to be sure and establish that contrast early on and let people know where I stand and what I’m doing and what would be happen if we went backward with Governor Strickland.”
For his part, Strickland says the early attacks are an indication of how seriously Republicans take his candidacy.
“In a way, I consider them a compliment,” he said shortly after announcing his candidacy. “If they weren’t concerned about my ability to win this election, they wouldn’t be spending money so early.”
He’s not without barbs for Portman. “I don’t think Sen. Portman really represents the people of Ohio in the way he should,” he said, adding that Ohioans need “an advocate in Washington – someone who believes in living wage jobs and believes in retirement security and believes in the ability to educate your kids without piling up a huge debt.”
On Thursday, his campaign spokesman, Dennis Willard, was more blunt.
“Rob “for the rich” Portman has a bad case of election jitters because his fingerprints are all over George W. Bush’s economic policies that gave us the Great Recession, massive layoffs and firings, and the outsourcing of American jobs overseas,” he said. “Ohioans know and respect Ted Strickland because he is one of us.”
The attacks come even though a third candidate – Democrat P.G. Sittenfeld, a city council member from Cincinnati – is also running for the Democratic nomination. Republicans have sent out attacks – criticizing his youth, for example – but have saved their most blistering barrages for Strickland.
Portman on Thursday characterized the early banter as a necessary part of what he expects to be a heated race.
“I’ve always said this is going to be a competitive race,” he said. “It’s going to be competitive no matter who the opponent is. I’ve always thought that, and certainly we will be prepared for that.”
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