Several Mahoning Valley Democratic officials are simply avoiding their party's nominee for the U.S.

Several Mahoning Valley Democratic officials are simply avoiding their party's nominee for the U.S. Senate.
They have nothing personal against state Sen. Eric Fingerhut of Cleveland, a former one-term congressman who is generally considered by his colleagues and state journalists to be exceptionally bright, articulate and a solid -- albeit liberal -- legislator.
It's just that the local Democratic officials don't believe Fingerhut has any chance of defeating U.S. Sen. George V. Voinovich, the Republican incumbent. Local Democratic officials think he has a decent chance of winning in Mahoning and Trumbull, two of the most Democratic counties in Ohio, and maybe he will have respectable numbers in Northeast Ohio.
But, they say, Fingerhut can completely forget about being competitive throughout the rest of the state, and when the final numbers are in, it won't be that close. Most speculate that Fingerhut is getting his name out this year and plans to run for a statewide office in 2006.
Perhaps some local pols will change their minds after reading a state poll released earlier this week that shows Voinovich with only a 16-point lead, and in a statistical dead-heat in Northeast Ohio. I write "only" because the senator was up by 33 percent in the October poll. That means his lead was cut by more than half with seven more months until the election. Politically speaking, the results are shocking, and there's no indication as to how or why Fingerhut did so well. The poll shows that his name recognition hasn't increased in the past several months and his net favorability rating went down.
State Sen. Robert F. Hagan, a Youngstown Democrat and Fingerhut supporter, spoke for many local Democratic officials when he said: "Eric can't raise enough money, and people look at it as if he can't win. I'm supporting him, but if you can't raise the money, you can't win." Hagan said he learned this the hard way in 2002 when his brother, Tim, unsuccessfully ran as the Democratic nominee against Gov. Bob Taft, a Republican, who raised about 13 times more than his challenger.
The reason the local Democratic officials say they are avoiding Fingerhut is they don't think he's going to win, so why back a losing candidate? Also, Voinovich has shown interest in helping to save the air reserve base in Vienna, one of the Valley's largest employers, which is facing the possibility of being placed on a list next year of federal military installations to be closed. The closure would further devastate an already struggling local economy.
Their logic: There's no reason to anger Voinovich, particularly when they believe Fingerhut can't win.
As one Democratic official in Mahoning County, who requested anonymity, said, "It's practical and pragmatic politics. [Fingerhut] is going to lose, and he's going to lose badly. We have to consider the consequences of supporting him. (Staying away from Fingerhut) makes sense to me. I can understand that. I don't blame people for making that decision."
Another Mahoning Democratic official said, "The air base is our No. 1 priority, and we don't want to tick anyone off. We've got to play our cards right." But this official said many local politicians are paranoid, and the politician doubts Voinovich would pull his assistance in saving the Vienna air base just because local Democrats supported their party's nominee against him.
A Trumbull Democratic official said that he didn't believe supporting Fingerhut would stop Voinovich from supporting the local air base, but to support the Democrat in this race would be a waste of time because he can't win.
In response to whether Voinovich would abandon the Vienna air base if local Democrats came out against him, Marcie Ridgway, his spokeswoman, said: "Sen. Voinovich has always fought for the area and will continue to do so, and do what's necessary to get the job done."
Raquel Whiting, Fingerhut's campaign manager, acknowledges that her candidate is getting a somewhat cold shoulder from Democratic officeholders -- except from his fellow state legislators -- in other portions of Ohio as well.
"Incumbents feel it's best to support incumbents to preserve relationships, so they're hesitant to endorse challengers," she said. "But it doesn't bother us. It doesn't upset us at all."
Whiting said the campaign's focus hasn't been on obtaining the endorsements of Democratic officeholders. While it would be nice to get that support, she said the campaign is concentrating on attracting voters.
"We don't have hard feelings against those people hesitant to support us," she said. "It's not been a priority. We understand the battle we have ahead of us."
As for money, Whiting freely admits Fingerhut won't come close to what Voinovich will raise and spend. She says it's hard to raise money, but the goal is to spend $1 million on media advertising.
As of Feb. 11, the Fingerhut campaign reported to the Federal Election Commission that it had $122,978 in cash on hand, compared with $4.62 million for Voinovich.