PERSPECTIVE Ohio politicians look ahead to 2006

Rep. Ted Strickland of Lisbon, D-6th, is considering a run for governor.
COLUMBUS (AP) -- The political rally in Chillicothe featured Democratic vice presidential candidate John Edwards, but some in the crowd had another race in mind.
"Governor, governor," some shouted as U.S. Rep. Ted Strickland addressed the crowd a few minutes before Edwards' arrival last week.
Even as the presidential campaign dominates headlines, with nearly weekly visits by President Bush and John Kerry, Ohio politicians are looking ahead to 2006.
Names in contention
*Strickland, of Lisbon, D-6th, is considering a run for governor in 2006, a race that already promises to be crowded with several Republican candidates jousting for Ohio's top job.
*House Speaker Larry Householder, who must leave his current seat in December because of term limits, said he will run for Perry County auditor in November. That would give him an elected position to hold -- albeit a local one -- while he continues to consolidate power for an expected run for state auditor in two years.
*Meanwhile, Lt. Gov. Jennette Bradley said she's planning a run for treasurer in 2006. Bradley, a former bank official and Columbus city councilwoman, is also state Commerce director.
"People who want to pursue a lifelong career in public service have to go somewhere when they've been term-limited out of statewide office," said University of Dayton political scientist Nancy Martorano. "Good jockeying starts earlier."
A quiet, out-of-the-way position such as county auditor could also help Householder repair damage caused by a fund-raising scandal that has sparked a federal investigation into the practices of a House Republican campaign committee, Martorano said.
Jockeying for position
Positioning for 2006 has been both blatant and subtle. Attorney General Jim Petro said last week that a decision by Secretary of State Kenneth Blackwell to pursue an elections complaint against him was politically motivated.
Blackwell responded that Petro was turning a blind eye to a Statehouse fund-raising scandal.
Both are potential Republican candidates for governor.
At a different forum last week, Petro let it be known that he has concerns about the duplication of public services by overlapping entities such as townships and villages.
In the latter example, Petro was using the attention he can draw as attorney general to highlight a potential campaign issue. He discussed the issue at a news conference announcing the dissolution of New Rome, a notorious speed trap on the far western edge of Columbus.
Petro pushed hard in support of a law allowing small, dysfunctional villages to be eliminated under certain conditions.
Keeping visible
Other candidates for governor do their best to keep their names in the news.
Last month, Blackwell and Gov. Bob Taft had barely announced their plans for trying again to change the state's campaign finance laws when faxes began arriving from Auditor Betty Montgomery reminding people of her support -- "since 1994" -- of such changes. Montgomery also is a 2006 candidate for governor.
This early positioning is partly a result of national campaign strategies beginning to trickle down to state races, said Philip Russo, a Miami University political scientist.
"Campaigns start early, declaration is early, organization is necessarily early because you've got to collect the money -- that's not something you do in a weekend," said Russo, director of Miami's Center for Public Management and Regional Affairs.