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Strickland criticizes Romney, Gingrich; praises Santorum
YOUNGSTOWN
Ex-Gov. Ted Strickland sharply criticized Mitt Romney and Newt Gingrich, the two leading Republican presidential candidates, but praised Rick Santorum, a former U.S. senator from Pennsylvania who’s also seeking the GOP nomination.
Also, Strickland, a Democrat who lost a re-election bid in 2010 to Republican John Kasich, said he discussed Ohio politics and manufacturing during a private one-on-one lunch last week at the White House with President Barack Obama.
Strickland, who visited at the request of the president, said he told Obama, a Democrat, that he needs to discuss plans to “revitalize manufacturing in America and to create for our country what every one of our competitors has, a specific policy, an industrial policy, to protect American jobs, products and the economy.”
Strickland said he told Obama that Mitt Romney, a former Massachusetts governor, would be his “toughest competitor in Ohio.” But the former governor added that Romney has stumbled during the last few days — something he said “surprised” him — and Gingrich, the former speaker of the U.S. House, is surging.
Gingrich “is very skillful and very willing to exploit bigotry and prejudices,” Strickland said.
Strickland talked Monday with Ohio journalists on a conference call.
Strickland criticized Romney for not releasing his personal income taxes. Romney said Sunday he’d make public his 2010 return and an estimate for 2011; something Strickland said isn’t enough.
The former governor said Romney’s income-tax issue reminds him of what Kasich did in the 2010 race.
“Gov. Kasich’s campaign rotated reporters in and out of a room on quick intervals to view only one year of his tax returns,” Strickland said.
He also connected Kasich to Gingrich.
“There’s some commonality there,” Strickland said. “Both are bright people with lots of ideas. Lots of times, these ideas are not thought through. They appear to be a little erratic.”
Rob Nichols, Kasich’s spokesman, declined to comment on Strickland’s remarks except to ask, “Does this mean [Strickland] plans to release all the donors and donations to Innovation Ohio, which are currently kept secret from Ohioans?”
Innovation Ohio is a Democratic think-tank based in Columbus, founded by a former Strickland deputy chief of staff. Strickland doesn’t have an official role with the organization.
During the conference call, Strickland brought up Santorum, saying he doesn’t agree with the former senator on much of anything.
“But I like that Rick Santorum is talking convincingly on manufacturing,” Strickland said. “It’s a topic that appeals to a lot of people.”