OH-Sen: Cincinnati Councilman P.G. Sittenfeld likely running

[Mister Mets]

Strickland is quite, old, right?

He's 73. If he were elected to the Senate in 2016, I think he'd be the oldest non-placeholder to enter the Senate...ever. But that doesn't mean he'd be a one-termer; like others have noted, others have served well into their 90s, and Strom Thurmond crossed the 100 barrier. He could stay in office for a while, especially if at 73 he still has the energy to do something new like this.

We might end up seeing more of this in the future.

People are living longer, and we're getting older statewide officeholders than ever before. It's conceivable for those guys to run for Senate ten years after getting elected Governor.

[LeBron]

Strickland's odds of beating Portman are about 50%.  Ryan will presumably run for Governor in 2018 (and would probably be the slight favorite in the general, especially given that Husted and DeWine are expected to spend the primary season beating the crap out of each other).  The Presidential election will bring out urban voters and Strickland is still basically a folk hero in Appalachia.  For whatever reason, his appeal there was never really hurt by Obama.  The dude's had quite a bit of fire in his belly since he left office and he'd start with both a strong pre-existing fundraising network and higher name recognition than Portman.  

@ Adam: Dude, Strickland *is* a progressive.  He's also extremely electable and Sittenfield simply isn't nearly a strong enough candidate yet to knock off Portman.  It doesn't really matter that Strickland will be a fairly old freshman, Ryan and him are our only potential candidates who could knock off Portman.  Portman needs to be beaten before he runs for President and/or gets entrenched (he could very easily become Grassley-level entrenched if left alone for a cycle or two).  Furthermore, Sittenfield is not "our candidate," at least not yet.  He isn't entitled to the nomination, he hasn't won the primary.  As I said before though, I would love for Sittenfield to run against John Cranley for Cincinnati Mayor, I think he could win.  Not only would this be a considerable improvement ideologically speaking, it'd also position Sittenfield for a statewide run of some sort down the road.  Losing in a landslide to Portman won't do Sittenfield any favors, especially when he's hardly our strongest candidate.

Edit: @Adam: Good article, I definitely agree about the categories of Ohio Democratic voters and activists.

Look at Strickland's record dude. It's a stretch to call him a progressive. He has a pro-life voting record in the House, he voted to allow military propaganda take place on college campuses, and he's a supporter of inhumane capital punishment having ordered the executions of roughly 20 people while governor. He also backed two state budgets that involved a 10% income tax cut and property tax cut which partially benefited the wealthy, and as a result we faced budget shortfalls and massive cuts to education, social welfare (specifically Medicaid and abuse-protection programs), state lay-offs, and tax burdens placed on local governments. One of the last bills Strickland attempted to pass in his time as a lame-duck was a fatal guns in bars bill. But the thing that angers me the most is Strickland's strong friendship with Jennifer Garrison who he helped make Ohio House Majority Leader once before. She once attacked her Republican opponent for supporting gay rights, and as Majority Leader nearly managed to block an equal employment bill from passing the House. This is not the kind of candidate we need in an electorate made up of the poor and middle class, women, gays and lesbians, and more.

As for Ryan, IIRC his name rec. is really low. Like 70%-80% of Ohioans have no idea who Tim Ryan is. Same goes for Sittenfeld, but either of them could easily change that over the course of the campaign.

Just for the record, I don't dislike Strickland - I think he's an okay guy, though he's had a good long career and he's been out of elected office for awhile now. I respect everything he's done for our state party, but he's become the past and I'm not the only Ohio Democrat who thinks that. He doesn't belong in the Senate primary. There's plenty of other and better ways for him to stay involved with the party, but it's not going to help the state party if there's a heated Democratic primary on our hands. Money is key in this race, and we need Strickland to stay out and help P.G. raise money, not costing each other it.

To say Sittenfeld stands zero chance against Portman is just not true. I want Portman to lose as much as the next person, trust me, but there's several factors that have to come into play yet. He has the opportunity to create a long-lasting legacy for himself if this turns out to be a really good year for Democrats and he runs a top-notch campaign - both of which are possible. Depending on what happens, Sittenfeld could hold onto that Senate seat for years, or in the case he loses he'll still have the confidence and trust of the ODP and the voters for a future run and it would really show the guts and endurance he has in him as a star. David Pepper lost statewide twice, but he still made something of himself by becoming the party chair and still holds potential in him.

A lot of money is going to be spent in Ohio by Democrats for the Presidency and Senate regardless of who's nominee. Portman has crossover, P.G. has crossover. Portman's a fundraising powerhouse, and P.G. looks promising to be one as well. He can play with the big dogs.

You also need to look at the pluses for P.G. that are minuses for Strickland. Portman is loaded with cash, and he would have a much easier time hitting Strickland in his ads and campaigning than he would with P.G. P.G.'s career so far has been pretty immaculate and it would be tough for Portman to find worthwhile baggage on him. Then there's the problem with Strickland and Hillary who perform well in rural Ohio, but have poor track records in underperforming in and/or losing in urban areas in the state. Strickland's appeal to the white working class is great and all, but 2016 is more about focusing on more outreach to young and minority voters. P.G. is from Cincinnati and he's done a lot to improve the quality of life there and fight for equal rights. Strickland spending most of his time in small populated Meigs County or Monroe County or Scioto County would do him no favors. It's all about campaigning in Cleveland, Youngstown etc. and running up the MoV there and fighting for battlegrounds like Hamilton and Montgomery hold a key to victory. P.G. seems more willing to do that to a farther extent.

[Flake]

Strickland's odds of beating Portman are about 50%.  Ryan will presumably run for Governor in 2018 (and would probably be the slight favorite in the general, especially given that Husted and DeWine are expected to spend the primary season beating the crap out of each other).  The Presidential election will bring out urban voters and Strickland is still basically a folk hero in Appalachia.  For whatever reason, his appeal there was never really hurt by Obama.  The dude's had quite a bit of fire in his belly since he left office and he'd start with both a strong pre-existing fundraising network and higher name recognition than Portman.  

@ Adam: Dude, Strickland *is* a progressive.  He's also extremely electable and Sittenfield simply isn't nearly a strong enough candidate yet to knock off Portman.  It doesn't really matter that Strickland will be a fairly old freshman, Ryan and him are our only potential candidates who could knock off Portman.  Portman needs to be beaten before he runs for President and/or gets entrenched (he could very easily become Grassley-level entrenched if left alone for a cycle or two).  Furthermore, Sittenfield is not "our candidate," at least not yet.  He isn't entitled to the nomination, he hasn't won the primary.  As I said before though, I would love for Sittenfield to run against John Cranley for Cincinnati Mayor, I think he could win.  Not only would this be a considerable improvement ideologically speaking, it'd also position Sittenfield for a statewide run of some sort down the road.  Losing in a landslide to Portman won't do Sittenfield any favors, especially when he's hardly our strongest candidate.

Edit: @Adam: Good article, I definitely agree about the categories of Ohio Democratic voters and activists.

Look at Strickland's record dude. It's a stretch to call him a progressive. He has a pro-life voting record in the House, he voted to allow military propaganda take place on college campuses, and he's a supporter of inhumane capital punishment having ordered the executions of roughly 20 people while governor. He also backed two state budgets that involved a 10% income tax cut and property tax cut which partially benefited the wealthy, and as a result we faced budget shortfalls and massive cuts to education, social welfare (specifically Medicaid and abuse-protection programs), state lay-offs, and tax burdens placed on local governments. One of the last bills Strickland attempted to pass in his time as a lame-duck was a fatal guns in bars bill. But the thing that angers me the most is Strickland's strong friendship with Jennifer Garrison who he helped make Ohio House Majority Leader once before. She once attacked her Republican opponent for supporting gay rights, and as Majority Leader nearly managed to block an equal employment bill from passing the House. This is not the kind of candidate we need in an electorate made up of the poor and middle class, women, gays and lesbians, and more.

As for Ryan, IIRC his name rec. is really low. Like 70%-80% of Ohioans have no idea who Tim Ryan is. Same goes for Sittenfeld, but either of them could easily change that over the course of the campaign.

Just for the record, I don't dislike Strickland - I think he's an okay guy, though he's had a good long career and he's been out of elected office for awhile now. I respect everything he's done for our state party, but he's become the past and I'm not the only Ohio Democrat who thinks that. He doesn't belong in the Senate primary. There's plenty of other and better ways for him to stay involved with the party, but it's not going to help the state party if there's a heated Democratic primary on our hands. Money is key in this race, and we need Strickland to stay out and help P.G. raise money, not costing each other it.

To say Sittenfeld stands zero chance against Portman is just not true. I want Portman to lose as much as the next person, trust me, but there's several factors that have to come into play yet. He has the opportunity to create a long-lasting legacy for himself if this turns out to be a really good year for Democrats and he runs a top-notch campaign - both of which are possible. Depending on what happens, Sittenfeld could hold onto that Senate seat for years, or in the case he loses he'll still have the confidence and trust of the ODP and the voters for a future run and it would really show the guts and endurance he has in him as a star. David Pepper lost statewide twice, but he still made something of himself by becoming the party chair and still holds potential in him.

A lot of money is going to be spent in Ohio by Democrats for the Presidency and Senate regardless of who's nominee. Portman has crossover, P.G. has crossover. Portman's a fundraising powerhouse, and P.G. looks promising to be one as well. He can play with the big dogs.

You also need to look at the pluses for P.G. that are minuses for Strickland. Portman is loaded with cash, and he would have a much easier time hitting Strickland in his ads and campaigning than he would with P.G. P.G.'s career so far has been pretty immaculate and it would be tough for Portman to find worthwhile baggage on him. Then there's the problem with Strickland and Hillary who perform well in rural Ohio, but have poor track records in underperforming in and/or losing in urban areas in the state. Strickland's appeal to the white working class is great and all, but 2016 is more about focusing on more outreach to young and minority voters. P.G. is from Cincinnati and he's done a lot to improve the quality of life there and fight for equal rights. Strickland spending most of his time in small populated Meigs County or Monroe County or Scioto County would do him no favors. It's all about campaigning in Cleveland, Youngstown etc. and running up the MoV there and fighting for battlegrounds like Hamilton and Montgomery hold a key to victory. P.G. seems more willing to do that to a farther extent.

tl;dr please

[LeBron]

If, by whatever chance, Strickland runs and wins, I see him as being a one termer. Then it'll probably be the sixth year of a Hillary administration. The seat will just flip back.

Yeah, that it why I'd prefer someone younger who could conceivably hold the seat for awhile.

Except that's not one of the options.  It's basically a choice between a progressive who probably has about three or so terms in him and about a 50% chance of beating Portman (Strickland) and throwing away any chance of winning the seat by running a younger candidate who would lose to Portman by about the same margin as Lee Fisher did and damaging his own career in the process (Sittenfield).  Sittenfield may well be a rising star, but right now and in this race, he's a solid C-lister.

The only way Sittenfeld loses by a Fisher margin is if he implodes or he gets hit by an obstacle of a Democratic primary (and wins) on the way to the general. Pepper will ensure another FitzGerald never happens and will look into P.G.'s background some more, and Fisher lost after a brutal primary that cost him a lot of his cash (and eventually left him broke in the general), being a naturally very poor, very mediocre candidate and the GOP wave that year. 

If Sittenfeld turns out to be the ODP de-facto nominee though in an uncontested primary, he stays on balance (or better) with CoH, and as long as 2016 isn't 2010, then it's close to impossible he does as bad or worse than Lee Fisher did against Portman. Let's be real here.

tl;dr please

Then don't post?

[Flake]

tl;dr please

Then don't post?

Nah, just don't post seven paragraph arguments on something that be said in seven sentences.

TL;DR VERSION
Strickland's record is not progressive, I don't think it's a good idea for us to run him. He's also friends with an anti-gay Democrat so it shows he's not a progressive. Although Ryan and Sittenfield have low name recognition, that could change over time. I'm just going to say that I don't dislike Strickland, but I don't think he should run for elected office again. To say Sittenfield has no chance against Portman is simply not true, a lot of money will be funneled to this race, regardless of the nominee. It might be easier for Sittenfield to win because he's more of a blank slate than Strickland.
There you go, not even seven sentences.

[free my dawg]

P.G.'s career so far has been pretty immaculate and it would be tough for Portman to find worthwhile baggage on him.

Nobody knew Ed FitzGerald was banging Irish girls and couldn't drive until late in his campaign.

[LeBron]

P.G.'s career so far has been pretty immaculate and it would be tough for Portman to find worthwhile baggage on him.

Nobody knew Ed FitzGerald was banging Irish girls and couldn't drive until late in his campaign.

The party made a mistake not finding that out earlier about his license before he became the nominee. But now post-FitzGerald, P.G. is smart and well-educated enough to be fully aware that anything could be leaked from his personal life, and is presumably running on a clean record.

[Chancellor Tanterterg]

If, by whatever chance, Strickland runs and wins, I see him as being a one termer. Then it'll probably be the sixth year of a Hillary administration. The seat will just flip back.

Yeah, that it why I'd prefer someone younger who could conceivably hold the seat for awhile.

Except that's not one of the options.  It's basically a choice between a progressive who probably has about three or so terms in him and about a 50% chance of beating Portman (Strickland) and throwing away any chance of winning the seat by running a younger candidate who would lose to Portman by about the same margin as Lee Fisher did and damaging his own career in the process (Sittenfield).  Sittenfield may well be a rising star, but right now and in this race, he's a solid C-lister.

The only way Sittenfeld loses by a Fisher margin is if he implodes or he gets hit by an obstacle of a Democratic primary (and wins) on the way to the general. Pepper will ensure another FitzGerald never happens and will look into P.G.'s background some more, and Fisher lost after a brutal primary that cost him a lot of his cash (and eventually left him broke in the general), being a naturally very poor, very mediocre candidate and the GOP wave that year.  

If Sittenfeld turns out to be the ODP de-facto nominee though in an uncontested primary, he stays on balance (or better) with CoH, and as long as 2016 isn't 2010, then it's close to impossible he does as bad or worse than Lee Fisher did against Portman. Let's be real here.

tl;dr please

Then don't post?

First, Sittenfield wouldn't make Strickland waste money.  Strickland could just ignore him and Sittenfield would still only get like 8-12%.

Second, we both know full well that Strickland would oppose the sort of abortion restrictions the Republicans have been pushing in Ohio and other states.  To try to make Strickland out to be some sort of enemy of the LGBT community just because he is friends with Jennifer Garrison (an admittedly awful Democrat from the same area who was part of the State House Democratic leadership for a while) is disingenuous at best.  Garrison isn't running for Senate, Strickland is and he's certainly not some sort of arch-enemy of the gay rights movement.  Sometimes in politics, you have to work with people whose views may not align 100% with your own if you want to get anything done.

On a related note, your claim about his budgets is also a bit misleading.  Strickland had to deal with an extremely right-wing and obstructionist Republican State Senate during his term.  Just not passing a budget wasn't really a viable option and sh!tty as certain aspects of the budgets were, it's not like some progressive wish list was going to even make it to his desk.  Those budgets were also a far cry from what we've seen from the Kasich administration (which has repeatedly pushed God-awful budgets, the latest of which includes a 23% cut in the state income tax).  As for gun control, you won't find a stronger supporter of it than me, but Ohio is just not the right state to insist on only running Democrats who support it in statewide races.  That's a losing issue for us here and I bare Strickland no ill-will for his views on the issue.  They definitely make him a much stronger candidate (as does the fact that he had a pro-life voting record in the House).  

Btw, Ohio is a pretty left-leaning state on most economic issues, but it is also center-right on social issues and narrowly favors Republicans, all things being equal.  Sherrod Brown wins despite his (excellent) views on many social issues because his brand is first and foremost one of economic populism.  A generic liberal vs. generic conservative in Ohio is typically a victory for the latter.  A populist Democrat (bonus points if s/he is perceived as moderate on gun control or abortion) vs. a generic conservative is generally victory for the former.

At the end of the day, Sittenfield wouldn't be able to raise even half of what Portman will and would be lucky to crack 42% (and could easily do worse than that).  Losing by a Lee Fisher-sized margin is well within the realm of possibility.  Running Sittenfield instead of Strickland wouldn't quite be at the "run Alan Grayson/Debbie Wasserman Schultz instead of Patrick Murphy" level of political insanity/suicide, but it is definitely up there.  It would be like if decided to throw away our chance to unseat DeWine in 2006 by running Paul Hackett instead of Sherrod Brown.

[LeBron]

^^That would be beneath Strickland to simply ignore one of our rising stars and act like he's some perennial nobody, let alone a challenger who's taking his race very seriously. Ramsey Reid (P.G.'s campaign manager) says the team is already off to a rocket-fire fundraising start which helps bring in even more donors. If Strickland thinks P.G. would just be a cakewalk, he's wrong.

Now as for Strickland's views, I'm not trying to paint him as a conservative Republican, but I just wanted to point out he's not a progressive either. If anything, he's closer to a more moderate center.

I have no doubt that he would probably be a strong party line vote in the Senate which is good, though there remains two personal reasons why I can't support him in a primary.

His state worker lay-offs negatively affected my family and I'm not okay with his refusal to stop trying to make an unforgivable bigot get into the state government at all costs when the Ohio LGBT community deserves an answer for that.

Strickland does have a pro-gay rights record, and I'm not challenging that. Strickland though by helping advance Garrison's career (and let's face it, she's of zero use), has prevented the passing of an anti-bullying bill to cover sexual orientation, has a 0% record with NARAL, voted against a raise in the minimum wage, has made racist comments before against minority Democrats, and has done nothing but line her own pockets from pro-coal groups and advancing her career as her first priority. She's a bigger obstructionist to Ohio Democrats than the Ohio Republican Party themselves, and Strickland is to thank for why she's even relevant. Strickland tried to shove her down our throats by nearly getting her the nomination for Secretary of State back in 2010 until she was finally forced out of the primary by the ODP, and just last year Democrats in OH-6 got stuck with her instead the highly more qualified and competent Lou Gentile. Strickland needs to grow a spine, give up on Garrison, and put the party and social justice before that clown's needs.

The Senate was Republican-controlled, yes, and the House Democratic (in his latter 2 years). However, the Governor of Ohio has line-item veto power, and it can be used for powerful things (ex. Kasich used it to keep Medicaid expansion from being blocked). The fact that Strickland didn't consider vetoing millions in tax cuts for the wealthy and eventual poorly funded services for healthcare centers and schools really goes to show he doesn't have Ohio's best interests in mind compared to other Democrats in Ohio. Kasich's are obviously worse, I'll agree there, and in his new budget he's again raising the poor-aflicting sales tax by .5% and his 15% of cuts to the income tax in 2015 which is basically telling school districts to raise local taxes. So yeah, Kasich's budgets are worse than Strickland's. Strickland could have done much better though on this front for progressives.

In regards to his views on gun control, it's one thing to be against it and I'm okay with that. It's Strickland's strong willingness to expand gun rights even more following Sandy Hook, the Tucson shooting and Ohio's Chardon shooting that's the problem. Strickland did grow up around Appalachia and I can see where he's coming from in why he supports gun rights as much as he does. His legislative ideas on it just go too far. There's some parts of this state though up North that are much more open to gun reform, and he has to understand he's not just representing coal country if he's elected statewide to the Senate. Ohio is certainly a little too conservative to be supporting an assault weapons ban, but we can agree on universal background checks. Strickland needs to be focusing on strongly supported bills like those when it comes to this issue.

Sittenfeld is pretty much already guaranteed a floor in the low 40's (40-44 whereabouts) as a generic candidate yet to be tested statewide. That could always change for the better, or it could go beneath that if he flops. But you know what, P.G. and Strickland both have their minuses and pluses and we've covered those. Sittenfeld's more in-touch and would be better with outreach with younger and minority Ohioans while Strickland benefits from the name ID. Hillary's currently running at the top of the ballot with a strong showing in Ohio against a weak slate of Republicans, but regardless of what happens in the Presidential or Senate, outside money from Democrats will flood into Ohio. It's an "outer-tier" state to a Senate majority on top of being the White House state and you can better believe the cavalry of the Senate Majority PAC, large labor, LCV, Planned Parenthood, powerful Democratic donors in Cincinnati like the Rosenthal's and Springer, and other big donors and PACs will come to Ohio Democrats aid no matter if Strickland or Sittenfeld is nominee.

[Flake]

LeBron Sittenfeld should make a tl;dr version (please).

[Amenhotep Bakari-Sellers]

Gee, all but gun Strickland in a Clintonite ally.  I think we can agree that two will be better than Portman. Which will give Dems the Senate and presidency.

[Hifly]

Adam's hatred of Strickland gives me even more reason to support him!

[socaldem]

Why doesn't Sittenfeld run against Steve Chabot for the Cincinnatti house seat?

[DrScholl]

Why doesn't Sittenfeld run against Steve Chabot for the Cincinnatti house seat?

Because that would be pointless. That district is so gerrymandered, that Bob Taft could win it by double digits.

[LeBron]

Why doesn't Sittenfeld run against Steve Chabot for the Cincinnatti house seat?

Well for one, Ohio Republicans gerrymandered Cincinnati's metro area into two districts, and then added the very Republican, rural Warren County to OH-01. So it would be a very hard district to win (or hold) in a midterm year. There's plenty of other local Democrats who are considering running for this seat anyways like Pillich and Mayor Mallory.

Adam's hatred of Strickland gives me even more reason to support him!

Tell me where I said that I hated Strickland. Yeah, nowhere. I'm supporting him if he's the Democratic nominee.

[badgate]

Adam's hatred of Strickland gives me even more reason to support him!

Tell me where I said that I hated Strickland. Yeah, nowhere. I'm supporting him if he's the Democratic nominee.

Uh oh Hifly. Now you can't support either one of them.

[LeBron]

Strickland: "I will make a decision by the end of this month."

This contradicts what inside sources were saying last week that Strickland would declare his intention to run in mid-February. It looks like he's still pondering on a decision though.

Strickland isn't even in the race yet and Ohio Republicans are already unleashing hell on him and his record. He is their worst nightmare, after all. At Strickland's age though, and I hope he considers this, this would be a stressful, two year long campaign for him and it would just get expensive and nasty. He could handle it, but the question is does he want to handle it.

P.G. is more motivated and he knows what he's up against. He needs to get cash and quick and start running his campaign before his challenger's define him. He's been expanding his campaign team which includes many prominent national figures who worked for and are close to the Clinton and Obama families. He was just up in DC fundraising with them, and you know, like I said he wasn't going to run if he knew he wouldn't have support. Who knows how many more powerful connections he has.

And speaking of that, the team already feels pretty confident about their first quarter haul so far. Judging from some of the comments of the memo P.G. sent out ("hampered by the politics of the past") he doesn't seem prepared to drop out even if Strickland runs.

I've really got to admire P.G.'s fortitude. This is a tough, tough battle for him to win, but you know, some candidates from 2014 proved us completely wrong and were underestimated. Let's see what he can do.

[Zioneer]

P.G.'s career so far has been pretty immaculate and it would be tough for Portman to find worthwhile baggage on him.

Nobody knew Ed FitzGerald was banging Irish girls and couldn't drive until late in his campaign.

As someone who wasn't here for most of 2014, I'm intrigued. Tell me more. I knew FitzGerald's campaign was terrible, but just how terrible could it get?

Also, I'm glad that Adam hasn't stopped being incredibly optimistic about whatever candidate he supports. I'm not even joking, it's honestly refreshing, after feeling cynical about my own state party.

[Vega]

P.G.'s career so far has been pretty immaculate and it would be tough for Portman to find worthwhile baggage on him.

Nobody knew Ed FitzGerald was banging Irish girls and couldn't drive until late in his campaign.

As someone who wasn't here for most of 2014, I'm intrigued. Tell me more. I knew FitzGerald's campaign was terrible, but just how terrible could it get?

Also, I'm glad that Adam hasn't stopped being incredibly optimistic about whatever candidate he supports. I'm not even joking, it's honestly refreshing, after feeling cynical about my own state party.

I don't think his actual campaign was the worst ever, but him not being able to drive and.... certain... questions.... about his personal life led to his collapse as a canddiate.

[RogueBeaver]

Besides losing 2-1 & becoming a national punchline?

http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/the-fix/wp/2014/08/01/ed-fitzgeralds-name-recognition-is-about-to-get-a-boost-in-ohio-for-the-wrong-reasons/

http://chronicle.northcoastnow.com/2014/08/06/ed-fitzgerald-lacked-drivers-license-4-years/

[Chancellor Tanterterg]

Strickland: "I will make a decision by the end of this month."

This contradicts what inside sources were saying last week that Strickland would declare his intention to run in mid-February. It looks like he's still pondering on a decision though.

Strickland isn't even in the race yet and Ohio Republicans are already unleashing hell on him and his record. He is their worst nightmare, after all. At Strickland's age though, and I hope he considers this, this would be a stressful, two year long campaign for him and it would just get expensive and nasty. He could handle it, but the question is does he want to handle it.

P.G. is more motivated and he knows what he's up against. He needs to get cash and quick and start running his campaign before his challenger's define him. He's been expanding his campaign team which includes many prominent national figures who worked for and are close to the Clinton and Obama families. He was just up in DC fundraising with them, and you know, like I said he wasn't going to run if he knew he wouldn't have support. Who knows how many more powerful connections he has.

And speaking of that, the team already feels pretty confident about their first quarter haul so far. Judging from some of the comments of the memo P.G. sent out ("hampered by the politics of the past") he doesn't seem prepared to drop out even if Strickland runs.

I've really got to admire P.G.'s fortitude. This is a tough, tough battle for him to win, but you know, some candidates from 2014 proved us completely wrong and were underestimated. Let's see what he can do.

What do you expect Sittenfield's campaign to say?  I'm sure Jim Webb's Presidential campaign staff say that they're confident about his chances and that they've been blown away by the level of support he's recieving.  No one publicly says "yeah guys, this is basically a suicide run and it'll be a cold day in hell before I/my candidate has a chance of winning."

[LeBron]

Strickland: "I will make a decision by the end of this month."

This contradicts what inside sources were saying last week that Strickland would declare his intention to run in mid-February. It looks like he's still pondering on a decision though.

Strickland isn't even in the race yet and Ohio Republicans are already unleashing hell on him and his record. He is their worst nightmare, after all. At Strickland's age though, and I hope he considers this, this would be a stressful, two year long campaign for him and it would just get expensive and nasty. He could handle it, but the question is does he want to handle it.

P.G. is more motivated and he knows what he's up against. He needs to get cash and quick and start running his campaign before his challenger's define him. He's been expanding his campaign team which includes many prominent national figures who worked for and are close to the Clinton and Obama families. He was just up in DC fundraising with them, and you know, like I said he wasn't going to run if he knew he wouldn't have support. Who knows how many more powerful connections he has.

And speaking of that, the team already feels pretty confident about their first quarter haul so far. Judging from some of the comments of the memo P.G. sent out ("hampered by the politics of the past") he doesn't seem prepared to drop out even if Strickland runs.

I've really got to admire P.G.'s fortitude. This is a tough, tough battle for him to win, but you know, some candidates from 2014 proved us completely wrong and were underestimated. Let's see what he can do.

What do you expect Sittenfield's campaign to say?  I'm sure Jim Webb's Presidential campaign staff say that they're confident about his chances and that they've been blown away by the level of support he's recieving.  No one publicly says "yeah guys, this is basically a suicide run and it'll be a cold day in hell before I/my candidate has a chance of winning."

It's expected that they would be openly optimistic to the public. Yeah. Looking forward to April's fundraising report though, we'll see whether they really do have something to be happy about and whether they really do have a nice sized beginning haul.

FitzGerald got his early fundraising start simply by a huge boost by the party and old campaign funds he had, which is a contrast to P.G. who's building a much-needed national profile of donors. I'm personally eager to see what his CoH is.

The main reason I posted that article though was simply to note Sittenfeld's small jab at Strickland and his willingness to stay in this race which could be a sign of things to come.

[Chancellor Tanterterg]

Strickland: "I will make a decision by the end of this month."

This contradicts what inside sources were saying last week that Strickland would declare his intention to run in mid-February. It looks like he's still pondering on a decision though.

Strickland isn't even in the race yet and Ohio Republicans are already unleashing hell on him and his record. He is their worst nightmare, after all. At Strickland's age though, and I hope he considers this, this would be a stressful, two year long campaign for him and it would just get expensive and nasty. He could handle it, but the question is does he want to handle it.

P.G. is more motivated and he knows what he's up against. He needs to get cash and quick and start running his campaign before his challenger's define him. He's been expanding his campaign team which includes many prominent national figures who worked for and are close to the Clinton and Obama families. He was just up in DC fundraising with them, and you know, like I said he wasn't going to run if he knew he wouldn't have support. Who knows how many more powerful connections he has.

And speaking of that, the team already feels pretty confident about their first quarter haul so far. Judging from some of the comments of the memo P.G. sent out ("hampered by the politics of the past") he doesn't seem prepared to drop out even if Strickland runs.

I've really got to admire P.G.'s fortitude. This is a tough, tough battle for him to win, but you know, some candidates from 2014 proved us completely wrong and were underestimated. Let's see what he can do.

What do you expect Sittenfield's campaign to say?  I'm sure Jim Webb's Presidential campaign staff say that they're confident about his chances and that they've been blown away by the level of support he's recieving.  No one publicly says "yeah guys, this is basically a suicide run and it'll be a cold day in hell before I/my candidate has a chance of winning."

It's expected that they would be openly optimistic to the public. Yeah. Looking forward to April's fundraising report though, we'll see whether they really do have something to be happy about and whether they really do have a nice sized beginning haul.

FitzGerald got his early fundraising start simply by a huge boost by the party and old campaign funds he had, which is a contrast to P.G. who's building a much-needed national profile of donors. I'm personally eager to see what his CoH is.

The main reason I posted that article though was simply to note Sittenfeld's small jab at Strickland and his willingness to stay in this race which could be a sign of things to come.

If Sittenfield wants to wreck any political future he may have otherwise had so he can get 8-12% against the Democratic nominee (who won't even have to acknowledge Sittenfield's candidacy), I suppose that's his call.  Seems kind of silly though.

[IceSpear]

I kind of doubt that Sittenfeld would only get 8-12% against Stickland. I mean, even some dude protest votes usually garner 15-20% of the vote. But yeah, Stickland probably wins at least 2:1 with little effort. It would be a suicide run and he should drop out and run for something else in the future if Stickland jumps in.

[TJ in Oregon]

P.G.'s career so far has been pretty immaculate and it would be tough for Portman to find worthwhile baggage on him.

Nobody knew Ed FitzGerald was banging Irish girls and couldn't drive until late in his campaign.

As someone who wasn't here for most of 2014, I'm intrigued. Tell me more. I knew FitzGerald's campaign was terrible, but just how terrible could it get?

Also, I'm glad that Adam hasn't stopped being incredibly optimistic about whatever candidate he supports. I'm not even joking, it's honestly refreshing, after feeling cynical about my own state party.

Here's the Atlas thread about the FitzGerald campaign. Enjoy, it's a thrilling one...