Friday, May 30, 2008
Gov. Ted Strickland’s decision to select Nancy Hardin Rogers as attorney general received high praise from numerous politicians and the state’s legal community.
Ohio House Democratic Leader Joyce Beatty called her “the perfect choice for this position. She is a strong, accomplished woman who will bring integrity and dignity to her new job.”
Even Chief Justice Thomas J. Moyer of the Ohio Supreme Court had a comment on the selection of Rogers, on temporary leave as dean of The Ohio State University’s Moritz College of Law.
“I have worked with her for nearly 30 years and know that she will begin the restoration of respect for the office of attorney general that it must have,” the chief justice said in a rare comment by him about a political appointment.
Marc Dann, who resigned March 14 as attorney general under pressure, described Strickland’s selection as a “great choice.”
By naming Rogers, Strickland, a Democrat, decided to go with a caretaker to run the office rather than name someone who would be the Democratic incumbent in the general election.
Rogers won’t run for the seat in the November election.
Strickland said he went the caretaker route because “it was important that we not have the individual who was trying to deal with the immediate problems facing the attorney general’s office to immediately be engaged in a political campaign.”
I can certainly understand Strickland’s reasoning.
It’s becoming more obvious that Democrats will nominate Ohio Treasurer Richard Cordray as its attorney general candidate.
Cordray would have had to vacate the treasurer’s job to accept the AG appointment; something that was never going to happen. That means a caretaker to run the office is needed.
If Democrats decide to go with someone besides Cordray as their candidate, it evens the playing field for Republicans to recapture the AG seat. Cordray is the Democrats’ best option, by far, to run for the position.
Whether it’s Cordray or someone else, appointing Rogers won’t help Democrats in the general election for attorney general.
Strickland has made the attorney general’s office almost apolitical by naming Rogers.
This is Rogers’ first — and probably last ¬≠— time swimming in the political pool.
And it’s a pool filled with sharks.
She takes over a scandal-ridden office that not only led to Dann’s resignation, but to the forced resignation of his former chief of staff and the firing of two other top officials.
Rogers wants to restore dignity and respect to the office, but just because Dann and his buddies are gone doesn’t mean the mess they created can be easily cleaned.
Ongoing investigation
An investigation by the inspector general into the office is ongoing, and it’s already been a major distraction. There’s little doubt the investigation is going to turn up something bad.
Republicans are poised to capitalize on that as well as remind voters of the problems at the office under the watch of Dann, a Democrat.
While Rogers’ reputation is solid, you have to question if she’s up to the monumental task of being attorney general, particularly in the current environment.
The transition from being dean of a law school with 140 faculty members to running the attorney general’s office with 1,400 workers isn’t going to be easy.
Dann, who ran a tiny law firm in a strip plaza in Liberty, admitted he was ill-prepared to be attorney general when he took office in January 2007.
Instead of overseeing a school that teaches students about the law, Rogers is supervising a large government agency that is responsible for enforcing Ohio’s laws.
We’ll see if she’s up to the challenge.