Dems need to channel Gov. Rhodes

As Democrats in Ohio cast about for an issue that will reignite their sputtering campaign for governor, they would do well to hire a medium so as to channel the late Gov. James A. Rhodes — Mr. Ohio Republican.

If they do, they’ll see the light — on how the $2 billion rainy-day fund (state budget reserve) amassed by Republican Gov. John Kasich can be turned into a campaign issue.

Truth be told, with the Democratic candidate for governor, Ed FitzGerald, unable to shake off recent revelations about his past, and the rest of the statewide ticket unable to avoid the fallout, some kind of intervention is urgently needed.

Therefore, who better than Rhodes, a master politician if ever there was one, to show Democrats how to turn a positive into a negative?

On Aug. 22, 1974, Rhodes, then the Republican nominee for governor, came to the Mahoning Valley with the goal of cutting into Democratic Gov. John Gilligan’s strong support in this predominantly Democratic region.

Budget surplus

At a press conference in Youngstown, Rhodes took aim at the state’s $108 million surplus, charging that Gilligan was holding on to money while schools in Ohio were struggling financially.

He cited the 125 school tax issues on the primary ballot as evidence of the Gilligan administration sitting on a pile of dough at the expense of Ohio’s children.

“Mahoning County taxpayers do not have far to look to find evidence of Gilligan’s inattention to schools,” Rhodes said.

And then he offered this pledge: If the Democratic governor refused to dip into the surplus to increase the per-student spending, he (Rhodes) would immediately start doling out the money if he were elected governor.

Rhodes also tossed in a $1 million pledge for Lake Milton, which was owned by the city of Youngstown 40 years ago, saying it was cheap for the economy of Ohio considering that Valley industries used water from the lake.

That, too, played well in this Democratic stronghold.

The story of Rhodes’ visit and his pledges ran on Page 1 of the Youngstown Vindicator.

Political history is certainly repeating itself, but this time it’s the Democrats accusing the Republican governor, Kasich, of building the state’s budget surplus on the backs of Ohio’s schoolchildren, local governments and working men and women.

Unfortunately for them, the message doesn’t seem to be resonating with the public.

The problem isn’t just with FitzGerald, the Democratic nominee for governor and Cuyahoga County executive. To be sure, his low name recognition this late in the campaign is a liability, as are the news reports about his not having had a permanent driver’s license for 10 years and his being in a car in early morning hours with a woman not his wife.

Democrats have failed to frame the debate over the rainy-day fund in the simple — but effective — terms used by Rhodes in 1974.

What the late governor understood is that there are sacred cows in politics, and most sacred of them is the education of Ohio’s children. Next, perhaps, would be local government’s ability to provide for the health, safety and welfare of its citizens — especially the filling of potholes.

Since taking office in 2010, Gov. Kasich has slashed funding for education and has stripped counties, cities, townships and villages of a significant amount of state money. The Local Government Fund was a mainstay of communities during the national economic recession.

Unending gift

It would seem that the two biennium budgets passed by the Republican-led General Assembly and signed into law by the Republican governor would be a political gift that keeps on giving for the Democrats. And yet, the Democratic Party has failed to fuel the passions of the electorate.

What would Rhodes have done with the Kasich surplus? He would have promised to take $1 billion out of the reserve fund and divvy the money up among the schools and local governments. In other words, he would have bought votes.

That’s old-time politics.

Whatever the Democrats are doing today isn’t working.

Forty years ago, Rhodes scored an upset in the governor’s race, narrowly defeating Gilligan.

FitzGerald should read the news stories about that race and figure out what he needs to do to connect with the voters. There’s still time — but not much.