From
The Courier via
Sixers on NRO:
Blackwell was already hurting due to some policy missteps that could have been overcome if he'd handled them openly. His signature policy, the TEL, turned into a fiasco because he refused too long to acknowledge a careless error that needed to be changed. Then he alienated educators by promoting the "65-cent solution," which would have required 65 percent of school funds to be spent on the classroom.
But Blackwell still had some good ideas — a state health insurance plan modeled on the one Massachusetts just adopted; a flatter state tax with fewer brackets; leasing the turnpike to promote economic development. It's a shame that these will likely be abandoned now, particularly since Strickland's proposals don't even come close to what Ohio needs. But in order to get his policies passed, Blackwell would need to have both a decent working relationship with the Legislature and enough influence with Ohio voters to convince legislators to take a chance. He decisively blew both of those Monday night.
Strickland is not much of a candidate. In Congress he's voted as a liberal most of the time, heavy on spending and taxation. He has few ideas, and some of the few he has presented have been analyzed as unworkable. He has no daring, no noticeable personality or charisma. But he's a nice man who works well with others — and that's the main reason why Blackwell is losing this race.
With Governor Strickland, we'll likely have another Bob Taft or worse — but with Ken Blackwell we could easily have four years of gridlock, with little or nothing getting done. It's a poor choice, and one that we'll have to let local voters make without any recommendations from us.
Sounds to me like the Courier still thinks that if you want to turn Ohio around, you'd better vote Blackwell. And it also appears to me that the Courier was looking for ANY reason at all to endorse Strickland...there is some
fine praise for Strickland in this piece... How pathetic is this from the 527 media???
