I was leafing through my most recent TIME magazine, and I was fairly delighted to see Ohio's races being talked about. The races between Strickland and Kasich for Governor, Fisher and Portman for Senate are seen as key midterm referendums on Democratic behavior the past couple years, specifically in regards to the recession. Photo gallery here and story here!
Anyhow, let's do a quick profile on Strickland since we're speaking (sorta) of him.
He's been the Governor of Ohio since being sworn in back in 2007. He's presided over the economic implosion of the last couple years, when unemployment in the state has shot up to 10.5%. He's also faced incredible budget shortfalls, and reacted primarily by having state agencies slash budgets and payroll. There's also been other efforts to increase revenue, primarily through gambling: Keno, trying to put slots in racetracks, and the casino gambling referendum have all happened during the current administration.
But...the budget is still facing an incredible deficit, and many of the state agencies are claiming they cannot make further cuts without serious damage to services. Unemployment is still highest in years, and recovery is SLOW.
According to the Strickland campaign site, the Governor has done much to lay the foundation for recovery. Increasing primary and secondary education funding, keeping tuition at public colleges and universities, encouraging clean energy investment, and improving government efficiency are all accomplishments Ted Strickland claims, and all would indeed put Ohio in an excellent position to capitalize on the recovering economy.
Tune in next time when we look at John Kasich!
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