Fisher has aired one statewide TV commercial in a state so large it requires massive advertising to even have a chance. He has a mere $376,000 in the bank, enough to finance your run-of-the-mill U.S. House race. He has become a nonperson as far as the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee is concerned.
To lose in this toxic environment for any Democratic candidate is not a surprise. But to lose this badly? Nobody expected such a thing.
After all, we are talking about the sitting lieutenant governor, a former state attorney general, and the 1998 Democratic gubernatorial candidate, losing a respectable race that year to Republican Bob Taft.
Privately, Democrats — and they are simply unwilling to talk about Fisher without a guarantee of anonymity — say the blame largely belongs to Fisher. One top Democrat asserted that “he’s not an appealing candidate,’’ who until this year ran competitive races because he was such a prodigious fundraiser.
“One on one, Lee can be charming,’’ the same Democrat said. But on TV, the Democrat said, “he looks like a politician and talks like a politician.’’
Fisher has run through three campaign managers and two press secretaries, a sign that he is a micro-manager. And he looks uncomfortable bashing foreign trade. While Sen. Sherrod Brown, D-Ohio, has an effective anti-trade tap dance, Fisher doesn’t even seem to believe what he is saying.
He also has been a bit unlucky. Former Ohio Republican Party Chairman Robert Bennett said, “I like Lee as a person. I’ve known him for a long time. He’s a decent guy.’’ But, Bennett added, “Lee has been dealt a bad hand’’ in the years he has run statewide.
Take 1994, Bennett said, when Fisher ran for re-election as state attorney general. The Democrats nominated unknown and under-financed Rob Burch to run against Gov. George V. Voinovich. In a massive Republican landslide, Fisher was the only statewide Democrat to run a strong race, barely losing to Republican Betty Montgomery.
“Under normal circumstances in a normal year, Lee Fisher would have probably won re-election,’’ Bennett said.
Now he is running for the U.S. Senate in what could be a worse year for Democrats than 1994. He has been matched against Portman, who can raise a million dollars with one hand tied behind his back, and is “absolutely the best candidate the Republicans could have put up for the U.S. Senate,’’ said Bennett.
Politics is a rough game. And Fisher’s people still are insisting they can win, citing an aggressive get-out-the-vote campaign by Strickland and Fisher. “This was always going to be a really close race, but Lee Fisher’s message is the winning message,’’ said Holly Shulman, a Fisher spokeswoman.
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