Ted Strickland is strongest Democrat in governor's race

Ted Strickland is a relative newcomer to the Mahoning Valley, moving to Lisbon after redistricting stretched the 6th Congressional District that the southern Ohio Democrat represented all the way up to southern Mahoning County.
That makes him as close to a hometown candidate for the Democratic nomination for governor of Ohio as you're likely to see, but Strickland brought much more than hometown connections into his endorsement interview with Vindicator editors.
He brought an indignation about the way things have been run in Columbus in recent years, a conviction that things have to change and a degree of humility that isn't often seen in congressmen. Sample of the latter: "I like being in the House. Not to sound prideful, but I probably could have stayed until retirement."
Not many statewide politicians even acknowledge that they're running the danger of sounding prideful.
Strickland vs. Flannery
Strickland's only opponent in the May 2 primary is Bryan E. Flannery, 38, a Strongsville businessman and former member of the Ohio House of Representatives. Flannery left the House when he chose to run for Ohio secretary of state, a race he lost to Kenneth Blackwell, one of two Republicans seeking that party's gubernatorial nomination.
Flannery is focusing his campaign on Ohio's educational funding system, which has been found unconstitutional by the Ohio Supreme Court, but hasn't been adequately addressed by the General Assembly. Perhaps Flannery could have best fought that fight had he kept his seat in the House. He chose instead to pursue a losing quest for statewide office.
The campaign he has run so far does not indicate he is any better positioned now to win against Strickland in May or, more importantly for Democrats voting in a primary election, against Blackwell or the other Republican hopeful, Jim Petro, in November.
"Strickland's proposals are Taft's proposal," Flannery says, in an effort to tie the Democratic congressman to Bob Taft, the state's Republican governor whose approval rating is lower than Vice President Dick Cheney's. It would be a damaging accusation in a Democratic primary, if there were a kernel of truth to it.
Why Ohio?
Strickland, 64, sees Ohio as a state in decline, with a growing national impression that is not positive and with a need for a break from the past. No doubt, he says, the state is being severely impacted by the global economy, yet so are Michigan and Pennsylvania, but those states are coping better.
Ohio has to trade on its central location and its strong transportation infrastructure, as well as those natural resources that helped make it great -- its fresh water and its coal.
He shares Flannery's concerns about education, but takes another direction. He says that even as President Nixon could go to China, while a President Humphrey or McGovern could not have, Strickland believes he is the best candidate to approach public education unions to discuss innovative ways of improving the state's schools.
The Vindicator endorses Ted Strickland for the Democratic nomination for governor and looks forward to a race against either Blackwell or Petro in the fall. That campaign should focus on the best ways that the candidates believe they can meet the state's obvious need for improvement.