I am upset by the talk on here about boycotting Democratic candidates in Ohio because of the Paul Hackett situation. The first reason I am upset is that as far as I know Paul's decision was based on pressure from the national, and not the state party. The second reason is that a boycott of Democrats in Ohio means that Ken Blackwell will become Governor and we will have passed up the opportunity to elect a great man like Ted Strickland.
The Strickland events I have been to in both Cleveland and Columbus have had overflow crowds. Even an event on a Thursday afternoon, when most who are not students should be working, was filled to capacity. There is a lot of excitement about his candidacy and anyone who meets him will know why there is such excitement.
There is no more genuine politician in all of politics. He has been a member of Congress for 12 years now and during that time has never taken the free health care provided to him for being a representative. His stance is that he will not accept free health care until all of his constituents are able to have the same level of health care. This is not a fact you will see widely published or talked about by Ted because he is humble and he is not doing it for political reasons, but because it is right.
The other day at an event I witnessed Ted step off of an elevator and shake hands with a woman who was leaning against a wall. Ted asked her if she needed a seat because she seemed to have a medical condition that made it hard for her to stand for long periods of time. She said that it would be nice to have a seat, but there were none available. Ted could have ordered his staff to get this woman a chair, however, during a time when many important people wanted to meet him, he took this woman by the hand and walked her around the room until he found an empty seat for her.
After witnessing this event and knowing about Ted's refusal to take government funded health care, I find it amazing that those on this board are questioning the candidacy of Ted Strickland and calling for a boycott of all Ohio Democratic candidates. This state would be so lucky as to have Ted lead it. However, I guess a boycott of the ODP would be best because Ted obviously does not care about the people (sarcasm). I mean it is common sense that we would all be better off if we boycotted ODP candidates and Ken Blackwell became Governor (sarcasm).
I will be the first to say that it is a shame that Paul Hackett dropped out of the senate race, as I have volunteered as much time with his campaign, as I have with Strickland's campaign. It is no secret that Ted supported Sherrod Brown. However, Ted supported Sherrod Brown not because Ted is an establishment candidate or anti-Paul Hackett, but because Sherrod is one of his best friends and they have known each other for years. If anyone on here would say they would not support their best friend for office, then I would say they are lying. I guess if you do not value friendship then you can be mad at Ted and boycott him, otherwise I think he did what anyone of us would have done in the same situation. In fact, knowing how good of friends Sherrod and Ted are, I was surprised by how restrained (almost non-existent) Ted's support of Sherrod was in public.
In short, if you question Ted Strickland's candidacy and him as a person, I dare you to meet him because you will not walk away with any questions. I am not not going to endorse Sherrod Brown at this time because if some of the rumors are true about what his campaign did to Paul Hackett, then I will not vote for him. However, in Ohio, we have many great candidates for office, Strickland for Governor, Jennifer Brunner for Secretary of State, to name a few, that should not be held accountable for the conduct of Sherrod Brown and the national party.