With polls showing President Barack Obama’s job approval rating dropping and with former President Bill Clinton’s political stock rising, Ohio Democratic Party Chairman Chris Redfern was asked which of the two prominent Democrats he believes would be most effective in rallying the party faithful for the November general election in Ohio.

Redfern was ever the diplomat in answering. He told Vindicator writers that Obama and Clinton would both be well received. The president would touch base with voters who helped him win in 2008, including independents, and Clinton would appeal to traditional Democratic voters.

But while the chairman suggested that the party would benefit from visits by both, the problem is that Democrats aren’t as energized as Republicans this year. A national poll shows that 80 percent of voters who identified themselves as Republicans said they intended to vote in November, while 55 percent of Democrats and 30 percent of Independents said they would.

That’s a problem for the Democratic Party, which is why Redfern and the county chairmen must give careful consideration to which national figures would be most effective in pulling the party out of its doldrums.

In the Mahoning Valley, that person would be Bill Clinton.