Clinton’s Valley dilemma

Given what is taking place in the race for the Democratic nomination for president – is there anyone who thought that the party insider would be playing second fiddle to a socialist? – Ohio’s primary on March 15 takes on added importance.

That means the heavily Democratic Mahoning Valley will be a major battleground for Hillary Clinton, the former secretary of state backed by the party establishment, and Bernie Sanders, the independent senator from Vermont.

When Sanders first talked about seeking the party nomination, he described himself as a democratic socialist. Few veteran political observers gave him much chance of being a serious contender. But his huge win over Clinton in last week’s New Hampshire primary, and his loss by a whisper in Iowa have raised his public profile, much to the dismay of party insiders.

Clinton is in a fight for survival that no one expected. After all, former President Bill Clinton remains one of the most popular and respected Democrats in the country, which is why most people assumed his wife, the former senator from New York, would breeze through the nomination process.

A visit to the Mahoning Valley would have been more of a victory lap than a knock-down, drag-out fight. But now, with Sanders igniting the passions of young people, winning the hearts of minimum-wage workers and even stealing female voters away from Clinton, this Democratic stronghold has become a question mark.

Inside track

But the uncertainty isn’t only about how Mahoning and Trumbull counties will respond to Clinton, who should have the inside track given the strong support she received in 2008 when she sought the presidency and ultimately lost the nomination to Barack Obama.

The question mark also has to do with how her campaign views what will be occurring in relation to this region in the two weeks leading up to the March 15 primary.

Government corruption in the Valley, with the underpinnings of criminal charges, will be dominating the news. That’s because the Oakhill Renaissance Place criminal conspiracy case, with two prominent Democrats as defendants, begins on Feb. 29 and is expected to last at least a month.

It is noteworthy that Youngstown Mayor John A. McNally, a former Mahoning County commissioner, and former county Auditor Michael Sciortino are Democratic Party insiders. The third defendant in this round of the Oakhill Renaissance criminal conspiracy is Youngstown Atty. Martin Yavorcik.

Given the black cloud that will hang over this region for weeks and weeks, Clinton has a tough decision to make. Does she bring her campaign into this caldron of public corruption, or does she send in proxies so she doesn’t have to deal with the sleaziness of local politics?

It’s a tough call – especially for someone who certainly must have fond memories of this area, going all the way back to the 1992 presidential election. That’s when Bill Clinton, the Democratic presidential nominee, and his vice presidential running mate, Al Gore (and their wives) came to Boardman and drew more than 10,000 people to the Southern Park Mall. Since then, the Clintons have visited this area several times.

But this year is different. The last thing Hillary Clinton needs is the distraction of corrupt Democratic politics in the Valley.