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

[LeBron]

I love the thought of a Senator Sittenfeld! He would be a thousand times better at representing us than Portman is.

Even though he is from the Southern part of the state, he is definitely popular among the liberal base in Ohio. I've heard a few of his radio broadcasts before, Talk of Ohio, and he's passionately expressed his discontent with the current gubernatorial administration in Ohio. He's won the support of police and firefighters for making known how those cuts to local governments hurt public services and schools (and in-turn results in higher local tax levies) and for the Governor's favoring of the rich and attacks on voters and reproductive rights.

He's brought on guests to talk about issues like those and he's not afraid to state where he stands. He's voiced his support for the Affordable Care Act, voiced his opposition to income inequality - nearly a quarter of all income goes to the top 1% - so he is an economic progressive, wants a raise in the living wage, has fought for college students in combating student loan debts in the City Council and a lot more. He supports protecting union rights - right to collectively bargain contracts, safer work environments and fair wages, and no "right-to-work." He's participated in rallies, public speeches and broadcasts before supporting LGBT equality and equal opportunities for women, closing the gender gap. Just from all this you can tell he is a strong Democrat.

He does have bipartisan accomplishments to tout as well. On the Council he sponsored a proposal (that was passed) that offered more to residents by turning public schools at night into community centers for recreation and learning, he's gone green for the city of Cincinnati, and he's cracking down on banks over foreclosures.

He's very in-touch with the social media world, is completely transparent, is very good at fundraising having raised nearly $300K in 2013, and his top of the race performance in 2013 is a perfect example that the people like him. His public speaking ability is awesome, and his ads he's aired in his past races are even better.

He would likely gain the support of the party if he does run. He's been very good friends with Pepper for years, the ODP Chair who Sittenfeld helped stump for, for attorney general last year. Sittenfeld sits on the state executive committee to, which unanimously elected David Pepper the chair last month. Aside from all the traveling he's done across the state, that's one of the main ways he's built these really great relationships with party leaders is through Pepper.

Sittenfeld would be a really strong candidate for statewide office in 2018. It might be too early for a run right now, but he has the ability to run a phenomenal campaign nonetheless whatever it is he runs for. I'll definitely support him and campaign for him if he runs, but I'm on the edge about his chances in a statewide race against someone with all the money in the world.

[LeBron]

NJ quotes some senior Dem strategists calling Sittenfeld their most promising prodigy since Brown.

I thought their "most promising prodigy" was FitzGerald... and we see how that turned out.

According to Lebron and literally no one else.  I doubt even FitzGerald would vote for FitzGerald.

He was a good rising star, at the time. Even you have to admit, we can't be like the Wisconsin Democratic Party and expect the same two people (Strickland and Ryan) to run for everything. Redfern made a huge mistake by not looking into FitzGerald more, but one bad apple shouldn't mean Sittenfeld doesn't deserve a chance at running here. We need to start looking towards our party's future.

[LeBron]

NJ quotes some senior Dem strategists calling Sittenfeld their most promising prodigy since Brown.

I thought their "most promising prodigy" was FitzGerald... and we see how that turned out.

According to Lebron and literally no one else.  I doubt even FitzGerald would vote for FitzGerald.

He was a good rising star, at the time. Even you have to admit, we can't be like the Wisconsin Democratic Party and expect the same two people (Strickland and Ryan) to run for everything. Redfern made a huge mistake by not looking into FitzGerald more, but one bad apple shouldn't mean Sittenfeld doesn't deserve a chance at running here. We need to start looking towards our party's future.

Connie Pillich, P.G. Sittenfield, Tim Ryan, Zach Klein, Lou Gentile, Mike Stinziano, and John Patrick Carney are all rising stars.  Leland, Budish, Brown, Strickland, and Cordrey are all well-established candidates with statewide potential (well, Brown is already Senator, but you get the idea).  Cranley, Whaley, and Ginther (down the road) each also have statewide potential.  FitzGerald was never considered an up-and-comer, nor did anyone ever really like him.  He just got to be the sacrificial lamb once it became clear Kasich was gonna win.

All of them are rising stars, yes. You can even throw DeGeeter, Kamrass, Clyde, Turner, Schiavoni, Boccieri, Phillips, or Ramos in the rising star category.

Ed FitzGerald we'll have to agree to disagree on. He made a big name for himself as Mayor of Lakewood, he survived a crowded Democratic primary for CC Exec. and he did what he said he would do - clean up corruption in the former county government, balancing the county deficit, getting some new and needed county charter amendments passed and approved, establish new initiatives like his college-savings program, and he gained statewide acclamation by the party after he stood up to Husted in 2012 on voting rights. He wasn't well-liked by the County Council President, and he certainly made some enemies along the way, but he also had a lot of close friends and party leaders urging him to run for governor after others opted out.

But like I said, Ed's the past. He's in the private sector and is done with politics. He appeared publicly for possibly the last time after showing up to show his support on Sunday for the new incumbent Cuyahoga County Executive, Armond Budish. Ed's done with, and eventually Strickland will be to.

We got to make room for the Sittenfeld's and Gentile's and DeGeeter's to take shape. Give Sittenfeld a chance to prove his ability to run a statewide campaign, Gentile would be worthwhile to run against Johnson in the coming years, and DeGeeter can probably replace Skindell when he retires. And so on.

[LeBron]

And right as I said all of that, there's some huge, but terrible news regarding the Senate race. Portman is upping the stakes here.....

Rob Portman announced a list of 250 ORP endorsements he received recently, including from Tea Party darling and corrupt State Treasurer Josh Mandel. He also announced he has a fundraising haul now of $5.8M on hand. So from the way it looks, he's just going to buy himself another term in the Senate even though he doesn't deserve it at all.

Other major endorsements he received are from:
- All of the other GOP elected statewide officials (including Governor John Kasich, Lt. Gov. Mary Taylor, Secretary of Suppression Jon Husted, AG Mike DeWine and Auditor Dave Yost)

- Every member of the U.S. House Ohio Republican Delegation - Most notably House Speaker John Boehner and Tea Party Congressman Jim Jordan

- Jean Schmidt, and the now incumbent Brad Wenstrup - successors to Portman in his old House district in Southwest Ohio

- Former Governor George Voinovich

- Every Republican Ohio State Senator (21) - most notably Senate President Keith Faber, Majority Leader Tom Patton, State Sen. Larry Obhof, and State Sen. Frank LaRose who's arguably the most moderate Republican politician in the legislature. However, he has not received endorsements from State Sen. Kris Jordan who's well known for proposing the fetal heartbeat bill before the Senate and State Sen. Jim Hughes.

- 54 of the 65 Republicans in the Ohio House of Representatives. He's receiving endorsements from Speaker Rosenberger, Amstutz, Sears, Dovilla and other establishment leaders. Unfortunately, there were some Tea Party defections who did endorse Portman here as well. Brinkman, Dever, Roegner, C. Hagan, Retherford, Maag, Koehler, Schaeffer, Thompson, and Butler. However, Hood, Young, Zeltwanger, Vitale and Kraus are not caving in to the ORP's demands and did not endorse Portman. Massive FFs, and hopefully one of them (w/ the exception of Kraus) challenges Portman.

- Former Speaker Bill Batchelder, and Damschroder and Wachtmann, former far-right State Reps. also endorsed Portman. State Rep. Matt Huffman who's known for his recent redistricting reform accomplishment also threw in his endorsement.

- Ohio Republican Party Chairman Matt Borges

- County GOP Chairmen from 72 of the 88 counties

- Most ORP Central Committeemen

- Franklin County Auditor Clarence Mingo - a big rising star in the Ohio GOP

- Cincinnati Councilman Charlie Winburn

- Cuyahoga County Councilmen Jack Schron and David Greenspan

These are among the biggest names on that list. But wow. This really shows the state party is united around Portman (although some of these endorsements probably were not willingly), and he avoided several potential primary challengers here. I guess this is Kasich's "reward" to Portman for staying out of the Presidential primary so that Kasich can attempt to fulfill his own ambitions in doing that.

Also, with this said, the Wiki page needs to be edited now for the Republican primary.

[LeBron]

Strickland still considering. Ryan says he's completely preoccupied with his infant son ATM, but will make a decision within a month. Says while unafraid of a primary, having done that before, it would be preferable if one's avoided. Sounds like he's still out. Buckeyes, what do you think the odds are of Strickland running?

Low odds, maybe 20%. I'll give Strickland the benefit of the doubt that he still has the energy to do this kind of stuff, but there's multiple factors besides his age for why he won't.

Strickland if he ran and beat Portman, at best serves two terms, and it would be pointless in the long term for him to run. He seems to really like working as CAP President and it fits him well. Also, he initially did say he wasn't interested, but he started reconsidering after national Democrats kept on telling him to run. Now that the state party has a candidate, I think he'll say no and endorse Sittenfeld.

He is a good Bill Clinton-like fundraiser for Democrats in the state when need be though, and I hope he continues this kind of activism in the state party.

Ryan I give even lower odds at about 5%. It's just not happening.

In regards to Sutton and Coleman (Coleman seems to be the most unenthusiastic about running), Coleman would crash and burn and I would hope he realizes that. He's more focused on the DNC convention anyways which is a tossup at this point between Columbus and Philly. Sutton I'd prefer to see challenge Renacci again especially given he's scandal-plagued, but she likely won't run for anything.

[LeBron]

Now as for P.G. Sittenfeld being in the race - The party sees strong potential in Sittenfeld and he needs and deserves this statewide run. Chairman Pepper is ready to enthusiastically back his friend Sittenfeld in his candidacy, and a lot of that can be seen through Pepper's latest role in setting up a mainstreet fund initiative to win big again in Ohio's 2015 municipal races (like we did in 2013). The whole goal of that is to create a future, and larger bench, and begin running some of these names statewide who have been in local politics for awhile now like P.G.

It would be tough for P.G. to win barring a wave if he doesn't get the proper resources, but the sooner he gets out there, the better. Sure the City Council isn't that good of a place to jump from, though this is the same guy that got more votes in 2013 than Mayor Cranley got in his race against Qualls, and raised close to 1/2 a million in a City Council race alone. Who knows how much he can raise in his U.S. Senate bid.

Point is though, don't consider just his current office when you think of whether P.G.'s a good or bad candidate for 2016.

As he starts to build experience, name ID and a large network, he will get Ohio donations as there's more assurance he becomes the actual nominee, and the ODP will certainly help him out with that. And luckily, Ohio is considered part of the national party's map back to a majority, so he will get a good amount of DSCC support needed to run an effective campaign to fight the onslaught that Portman will throw at him.

There is also the fact that Ohio gets affected by national climates. 2010/2014 GOP waves hurt the state party immensely while 2008/2012 we got our candidates elected, and quite frankly, P.G. is someone who could really help in turning out the base in Ohio. He works great with social media and on the road with crowds, and holds some very strong principles.

For the record, I will be a part of his early campaign, but I'm not donating anything until I know that he's staying in for sure (considering the rumors that he might drop out if a higher-profile Democrat jumps in).

[LeBron]

X is right about who the GOP will get in 2018 for Gov and AG. There may be some differing on SoS and Auditor though.

Gov - It's going to be Husted vs. DeWine. At DeWine's age, it's make it or break it time for him and Husted has always been a very ambitious Republican. They'll tear each other apart.

SoS - Larry Obhof I've heard might be interested. He's going to run for something, and I remember last year he vigorously defended and cosponsored the voter suppression legislation that passed. This would be his office to run for.

Attorney General - Dave Yost. He could get a primary challenge from Faber possibly for his past defiance of the Ohio GOP, though it should be safe to say he'll get the GOP nod.

Treasurer - Scott Ryan has gotten a few mentions.

Auditor - Clarence Mingo maybe? McClain is also a possibility.

As for who will challenge Sherrod, there's a good chance Stivers will run here. He's fundraising for a future run at some point, and he's an establishment favorite.

[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.

[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?

[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.

[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.

[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.

[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.

[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.

[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.

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.

I think we're all in agreement that Sittenfeld stands no chance in a primary if Strickland runs. Regardless, I would still back Sittenfeld's candidacy in a hypothetical primary for previously mentioned personal and ideological reasons.

Sittenfeld would perform better than 8-12%, likely with a floor of 20%. Even Larry Ealy, the cringe perennial candidate from last year's Democratic primary got 17% of the vote despite publicly acknowledging he had no idea where Youngstown, Ohio was and not one person having any idea who he was.

Granted, he was facing FitzGerald who also had low name ID and is a weaker candidate than Strickland would be. On the flip side of that though, while Strickland is a lot stronger than FitzGerald, Sittenfeld is a lot stronger (and a lot more credible and sane) then Ealy was.

P.G. would remain relevant with the cash and connections and he would run up the score a little in the metropolitan areas, but it's ultimately Strickland's field.

In a lot of past cases though, the ODP has jumped in and "encouraged" the weaker candidate or the candidate they prefer not to back to drop out. So if Strickland opts out, he does still have a realistic shot at the nomination. On the other hand, if Strickland jumps in, while Sittenfeld himself and his early team would like for him to stay in, his establishment friends might just ask him to drop out and promise party support of him in a local run for say, Hamilton County Commissioner or State Senate in 2016/2018.

[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.

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.

I think we're all in agreement that Sittenfeld stands no chance in a primary if Strickland runs. Regardless, I would still back Sittenfeld's candidacy in a hypothetical primary for previously mentioned personal and ideological reasons.

Sittenfeld would perform better than 8-12%, likely with a floor of 20%. Even Larry Ealy, the cringe perennial candidate from last year's Democratic primary got 17% of the vote despite publicly acknowledging he had no idea where Youngstown, Ohio was and not one person having any idea who he was.

Granted, he was facing FitzGerald who also had low name ID and is a weaker candidate than Strickland would be. On the flip side of that though, while Strickland is a lot stronger than FitzGerald, Sittenfeld is a lot stronger (and a lot more credible and sane) then Ealy was.

P.G. would remain relevant with the cash and connections and he would run up the score a little in the metropolitan areas, but it's ultimately Strickland's field.

In a lot of past cases though, the ODP has jumped in and "encouraged" the weaker candidate or the candidate they prefer not to back to drop out. So if Strickland opts out, he does still have a realistic shot at the nomination. On the other hand, if Strickland jumps in, while Sittenfeld himself and his early team would like for him to stay in, his establishment friends might just ask him to drop out and promise party support of him in a local run for say, Hamilton County Commissioner or State Senate in 2016/2018.

Fair enough.  Don't get me wrong, I like Sittenfield and I'd love to see him run for the state legislature.  If he does so and wins, he could be a great candidate against Chabot if that seat becomes competitive (or is drawn fairly) after redistricting.  Any remotely fair/non-gerrymandered map would have likely-to-lean Democratic house seat in Hamilton County.  Even a competitive-to-lean Republican seat is pretty sketchy.  Someone as right-wing as Chabot would be toast in anything short of a lean Republican seat like the old OH-1.  That said, there might be a bit of a line since we have a pretty strong bench in the Cincinnatti area (Pillich, Sittenfield, Cranley, Pepper, Roxanne Qualls, Micah Kamrass, etc).  But I digress,  the point is that Sittenfield will have plenty of opportunities to climb the ladder without embarking on a suicide run.

Yep, despite being in the minority, I think he would have a lot to offer and would be a powerful voice when things like "RTW" or "religious freedom" come before the Assembly. Like I said before, we definitely need someone to primary Thomas who's a really weak candidate and conservative. There is a good chance we could take back the Assembly next decade to, which would set Sittenfeld up for a nice leadership position there.

Don't forget Alicia Reece, Mark Mallory, Chris Seelbach and plenty of other big names from there with strong potential. But yeah, under current lines, OH-1 would be a one term hold at best. If Democrats get control of redistricting again though, then they need to make sure this district is engulfed completely in Cincinnati. We lose one district in 2020 I believe, so there will certainly be more leeway room to give Warren County, Butler County or Hamilton's suburbs to neighboring R districts. Sittenfeld would be only 35-37 years old if/when this happens and could stay in the House for a short awhile before running statewide.

I should also mention, since Kamrass's name was brought up, that it turns out he did endorse P.G. Sittenfeld. He's going to be fundraising with Kamrass and several attorney's in an event he's holding today. I'm pretty sure Mayor Mallory also endorsed him, so it's nice to know he's building up some really nice Hamilton County-based endorsements.

If P.G. gets a cleared Democratic field for him though and it's possible, then I think he could handle a statewide run as early as 2016. He's been really, really impressive as of late with money already brought in.

[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.

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.

I think we're all in agreement that Sittenfeld stands no chance in a primary if Strickland runs. Regardless, I would still back Sittenfeld's candidacy in a hypothetical primary for previously mentioned personal and ideological reasons.

Sittenfeld would perform better than 8-12%, likely with a floor of 20%. Even Larry Ealy, the cringe perennial candidate from last year's Democratic primary got 17% of the vote despite publicly acknowledging he had no idea where Youngstown, Ohio was and not one person having any idea who he was.

Granted, he was facing FitzGerald who also had low name ID and is a weaker candidate than Strickland would be. On the flip side of that though, while Strickland is a lot stronger than FitzGerald, Sittenfeld is a lot stronger (and a lot more credible and sane) then Ealy was.

P.G. would remain relevant with the cash and connections and he would run up the score a little in the metropolitan areas, but it's ultimately Strickland's field.

In a lot of past cases though, the ODP has jumped in and "encouraged" the weaker candidate or the candidate they prefer not to back to drop out. So if Strickland opts out, he does still have a realistic shot at the nomination. On the other hand, if Strickland jumps in, while Sittenfeld himself and his early team would like for him to stay in, his establishment friends might just ask him to drop out and promise party support of him in a local run for say, Hamilton County Commissioner or State Senate in 2016/2018.

Fair enough.  Don't get me wrong, I like Sittenfield and I'd love to see him run for the state legislature.  If he does so and wins, he could be a great candidate against Chabot if that seat becomes competitive (or is drawn fairly) after redistricting.  Any remotely fair/non-gerrymandered map would have likely-to-lean Democratic house seat in Hamilton County.  Even a competitive-to-lean Republican seat is pretty sketchy.  Someone as right-wing as Chabot would be toast in anything short of a lean Republican seat like the old OH-1.  That said, there might be a bit of a line since we have a pretty strong bench in the Cincinnatti area (Pillich, Sittenfield, Cranley, Pepper, Roxanne Qualls, Micah Kamrass, etc).  But I digress,  the point is that Sittenfield will have plenty of opportunities to climb the ladder without embarking on a suicide run.

Yep, despite being in the minority, I think he would have a lot to offer and would be a powerful voice when things like "RTW" or "religious freedom" come before the Assembly. Like I said before, we definitely need someone to primary Thomas who's a really weak candidate and conservative. There is a good chance we could take back the Assembly next decade to, which would set Sittenfeld up for a nice leadership position there.

Don't forget Alicia Reece, Mark Mallory, Chris Seelbach and plenty of other big names from there with strong potential. But yeah, under current lines, OH-1 would be a one term hold at best. If Democrats get control of redistricting again though, then they need to make sure this district is engulfed completely in Cincinnati. We lose one district in 2020 I believe, so there will certainly be more leeway room to give Warren County, Butler County or Hamilton's suburbs to neighboring R districts. Sittenfeld would be only 35-37 years old if/when this happens and could stay in the House for a short awhile before running statewide.

I should also mention, since Kamrass's name was brought up, that it turns out he did endorse P.G. Sittenfeld. He's going to be fundraising with Kamrass and several attorney's in an event he's holding today. I'm pretty sure Mayor Mallory also endorsed him, so it's nice to know he's building up some really nice Hamilton County-based endorsements.

If P.G. gets a cleared Democratic field for him though and it's possible, then I think he could handle a statewide run as early as 2016. He's been really, really impressive as of late with money already brought in.

I don't know who Steelborn is, but Reece and Mallory wouldn't be able to unseat Chabot imo (even in a favorable district, especially not Mallory).

Seelbach's a Cincinnati Councilman who's a very good friend of Sittenfeld's. He would possibly be a good primary opponent to Cranley's left in 2017 if Qualls and P.G. choose not to run.

Reece and Mallory would be unable to beat Chabot under the current district due to the struggles they would have finding crossover support outside Cincinnati, but if the district becomes more centralized next census, I could see one of the popular names from Cincinnati making a run. Mallory is really popular still in Cincinnati and the city has had plenty of trouble getting turnout there in the past. He or Reece could form a good machine if they ran.

Pillich is arguably the best fit here though.

[LeBron]

According to one source, P.G. Sittenfeld's campaign which has only been active for 3 weeks, reportedly have half a million already on hand!

You must be logged in to read this quote.

And this haul is presumably from a lot of out-of-state fundraisers.

[LeBron]

Told you guys.

[LeBron]

Before I say anything else, I have a lot to get off my chest about this Strickland candidacy and the possibility that P.G. drops out, and I'll cover this in one or two posts.

Strickland was giving Democrats considering running the wrong impression when he initially said he had no interest in the Senate, and only recently post-Sittenfeld announcement started making big hints that he's running. The fact that he expects P.G. to drop out just like that after misleading P.G. really goes to show a lot about Strickland's character and if he really does care about the best interests of the ODP.

So P.G. has to either do what the Strickland machine asks of him, or end up like Jennifer Brunner. If P.G. drops out, then Strickland gets his way and he'll "promise" to support P.G. in a future statewide run. When Brunner dared to defy Strickland and ran against Fisher, Strickland made sure Brunner's donors were cut off significantly and attacked her and her family repeatedly. The same could possibly happen to P.G. if he stays in. It's Strickland's old intimidation tactics at work again, and it was those same vicious assaults that gave the clown of a Lieutenant Governor the Senate nomination in 2010 only for him to implode against Portman. Let's also not forget that was around the same time Strickland attempted to go against the party's wishes and did all in his power to try and get Jennifer Garrison, who's a massive bigot and flamethrower herself, the Democratic nomination for Secretary of State. He doesn't care what Ohio Democrats want. Ted Strickland will do what's best for Ted Strickland.

So you know, if Strickland has to scare or bribe all his possible opponents so that he can get the nomination, then the voting process is out the door according to Strickland. I would much rather prefer Strickland to prove himself to Democrats in Ohio by facing P.G. Sittenfeld in the primary, rather than just handing him the nomination on a silver platter.

Enough about that though. Strickland is talked as the miracle candidate the ODP needs for Senate to move forward, but I'm about to prove that false.

First, campaign strategy - Strickland in his 2010 campaign proved just how flat-footed and incompetent he is of running a statewide campaign. Even if you go as far back as 2006, he won on account of a Democratic wave and the most unpopular outgoing Republican governor in Ohio history. Not because he was some "master campaigner." Money was his answer to everything, and his strategy involved spending a majority of his time campaigning in Appalachia. He had nobody on his ticket from Northeast Ohio, did nothing for this region while governor, and barely spent any campaign time up here, and it showed at the polls when turnout was abysmal. He took Northeast Ohio for granted, and after he lost he blamed Cleveland, not himself for why he lost. This is a true story, to. He's quoted as saying he "deserved"/was entitled to Northeast Ohio's support, even though Strickland refused to show Northeast Ohio support during the recession.

His strategy was a joke if you just look at the registration numbers. In Northeast Ohio alone, there's over 2.5 million registered voters. That includes nearly a million in Cuyahoga, one of the most Democratic counties in Ohio. In southeast Ohio alone, there's only about 400,000 registered voters, give or take. Just from this you can tell the strategy to winning in Ohio is GOTV heavily and spending a crucial amount of time in Cuyahoga, Summit, Mahoning, Hamilton, Lucas....areas that will supply Democratic candidates with plenty of votes especially if they campaign for them. He would need to run up the margin's there, but Strickland is wasting his time thinking that southeast Ohio will decide elections. He'll have Hillary at the top of the ticket who already does well in that part of the state. And I don't trust him here with this after he failed us in 2010 for being partially accountable for why John Kasich became governor. I would trust P.G. though who is very promising, and has been able to do something that Strickland can't - win.

If he's so interested in getting back in office, then he could just as easily stay relevant in another way by defeating the very weak incumbent Rep. Bill Johnson in OH-6. After all, if Lou Gentile doesn't run, the ODP needs a candidate there. That district is completely engulfed in Appalachia anyways, and Strickland would rather represent just Appalachia than the whole state of Ohio. He has the energy still to make a last run for something, though he's running for the wrong office.

As for the political issues - One might be more electable than the other if for no other reason having the best name recognition and most cash, but only one is a solid progressive in this Democratic primary while the other is a Blue Dog type of Democrat. One is 30 years old and is the party's future, the other is 73 years old and is the party's past. In an electorate made up of young, liberal urban voters and minorities, Ohio Democrats would much rather prefer a candidate like P.G. Sittenfeld.

- On income inequality, Sittenfeld is a strong believer that the rich should pay more to relieve burdens on the poor and middle class. Strickland, as governor, instead of line-item vetoing it signed off on the Taft-income tax cuts that benefited the wealthy.

- On student loan debt and college affordability, P.G. has an initiative he proposed to City Council (and wants to propose in the Senate) that would significantly reduce interest rates and save 9,000,000 students thousands of dollars. What has Strickland done? After slashing state funding for public universities, several universities in Ohio raised their tuition costs even higher.

- On gun control, Sittenfeld believes in comprehensive gun control reform. As governor, Strickland signed a modern-day Stand Your Ground law, supports conceal carry and has an A rating from the NRA.

- On clean energy and the environment, P.G. and the City Council voted to dump Duke Energy and invest in renewable energy for their city. Strickland's record on it is backing the construction of coal-powered plants in southeast Ohio, despite the EPAs objections due to the high sulfur-dioxide pollution in several counties.

- On job creation, Sittenfeld and the City Council passed a budget last year that prevented the city's police and firefighters from being laid off. Strickland, while governor laid off over 5,000 state employees who depended on those jobs. Job growth has also increased substantially in Cincinnati FWIW.

- On education, P.G. as Chair of the Education and Entrepreneurship Committee has worked to turn non-active schools at night into social hubs/community centers for the public, is working on providing more Wifi access to schools, and has openly criticized the state government for the cuts they've made to school districts. Strickland? He tried to balance a budget deficit by cutting state aid from schools and libraries that needed it.

- On equal rights, Cincinnati has gained a rating by the HRC as one of the most LGBT-friendly cities for passing on the City Council equal benefits for city employees, overturning an anti-LGBT discrimination law and are combating bullying and suicide deaths in schools. Strickland, two years after Jennifer Garrison prevented the passing of an anti-bullying bill based off of sexual orientation, helped Garrison become Ohio House Majority Leader. P.G. is also pro-choice and has been vocal against the state government's attacks on reproductive and voting rights. Strickland on the other hand while in Congress, had a moderately pro-life voting record.

One of the many reasons Democrats did so bad in 2014 was because there were Democratic candidates out there running to the right of Republicans on some of these issues like Alison Lundergan Grimes and Natalie Tennant. Strickland just might try to do that as well depending on how this campaign goes.

Now the records - When you look at Strickland, you immediately think of 400,000 jobs lost. Republicans will use that, but they'll also attack him on the credit downgrades, his record of working for George Soros, his record with the Midwest Gateway Partners lobbying firm, having spent more time in DC than in Ohio, and other things that are already in Portman's online attack ads against Strickland. With the amount of money being spent by the GOP, they will be effective and will gain memorable, negative reactions from Ohioans of the past whether they're true or not.

It is worth noting to, that in this 3-man race so far, P.G. Sittenfeld is the only DC outsider. He's never been a Washington politician, and is an Ohioan first. The Ohio GOP has failed to find anything on him. The best they've been able to do so far is try comparing him to Ed FitzGerald, and it won't work. P.G. would not run for statewide office knowing full well that he has major baggage that could be leaked by the media after seeing that's how Fitzy crashed.

Point is, 2016 is going to be a good year for Democrats and voters will turnout no matter what. But we need a candidate who works best for this political climate and connects well in crowds and on social media with the Ohio voters.

[LeBron]

I'm also sick and tired of hearing how Sittenfeld would be a weak nominee because of "mah City Council." That's your only defense you guys have on him for why he would suck. Compare the pros and cons of him as Democratic nominee, and the pros outweigh the cons.

Sittenfeld already has some mid-scale state party endorsements, and has plenty of outside help from advisers who worked for Hillary and Obama to fundraise with him. He can raise money, contrary to belief (and already has at least $500,000 on hand). He's ran incredibly strong campaigns and this is just a sample of the awesome ads he can put together. Look him up on Youtube for some of his speeches, and you can easily tell he's an electrifying speaker. He loves social media - he grew up on it, and he knows how to get donors, knows which issues he should tackle (for example, he's focusing heavily on college affordability and raising the minimum wage), and he is the kind of candidate young voters would come out to vote for as his name recognition progresses. It would be hard for him to get elected against a man like Portman, but not impossible.

Chairman Pepper has a new initiative to try and get more fresh and progressive faces elected to local and statewide office, and Strickland gets in the way of that.

Instead of a primary fight, we need to be uniting as a party in a time of recovery and use all resources to go into defeating Portman. If Strickland demands to run though, then bring it on.

[LeBron]

Lebron: TL, DR, dude.

Shorter LeBron: The primary winner should be the first person to announce--how dare the Dem establishment rally around a more experienced candidate. Cegelis! Darcy! Hackett! Sittenfeld!

First of all, the Democratic establishment isn't rallying around anyone yet. There's plenty of activists and party leaders in the state who said they don't want Strickland. P.G. is accumulating ODP support, and it helps when you're best friends with the state party chair.

As for Strickland having "more experience", the last time Strickland ran in a race was 5 years ago. The last time he won a race was nearly a decade ago, and if you read what I said his statewide campaigns are incredibly below average when it comes to GOTV strategy. P.G.'s experience of campaigns involves gaining support from Democrats and Independents.

So with that said, Strickland is an experienced loser at the age of 73. P.G. is a learning to become experienced winner at the age of 30.

[LeBron]

Mike Lee endorses Portman. Sorry, Adam. Probably not getting that primary you wanted.

Portman was never going to get a strong primary challenger. The Ohio Tea Party isn't very strong to begin with, and some of the big names like Mandel and Jordan were never going to run.

It didn't help Zawistowski's cause either to find a primary challenger to Portman when the Ohio GOP (who have already endorsed Portman) threatened all of the state legislative Tea Partiers to support/not run against Portman or else. Most of them complied and there's only a small handful of county GOP chairmen and state legislators who haven't endorsed him yet.

So at this point, if Portman does get a primary challenger, it will likely be a no name who Portman ignores.

[LeBron]

Mike Lee endorses Portman. Sorry, Adam. Probably not getting that primary you wanted.

Portman was never going to get a strong primary challenger. The Ohio Tea Party isn't very strong to begin with, and some of the big names like Mandel and Jordan were never going to run.

It didn't help Zawistowski's cause either to find a primary challenger to Portman when the Ohio GOP (who have already endorsed Portman) threatened all of the state legislative Tea Partiers to support/not run against Portman or else. Most of them complied and there's only a small handful of county GOP chairmen and state legislators who haven't endorsed him yet.

So at this point, if Portman does get a primary challenger, it will likely be a no name who Portman ignores.

Any chance of Matt Lynch trying? Or is he just going to challenge Joyce again?

Joyce is a very good friend of LaTourette's and he got significant help from him in his re-election primary bid against Lynch. Despite being heavily outspent, Lynch did come relatively close to knocking Joyce off so I wouldn't be surprised at all if he ran again for that. I don't think he'll run for Senate.

So at this point, if Portman does get a primary challenger, it will likely be a no name who Portman ignores.

But that challenger will still probably get like 6-8% of the vote because of rural counties.

Well yeah. Even if it's a joke candidate, there's always people who will vote for the primary challenger to the incumbent.

[LeBron]

I'm ashamed of the ODP. We're starting to go into FDP bad territory by nominating perennial losers for offices again and again (Fisher and now Strickland), and I had hoped when we got rid of Redfern we would see a good amount of reform in the selection process. Guess not.

Giving Chairman Pepper the benefit of the doubt he did want to remain neutral plus the endorsement of Strickland was really out of his power to stop (the blame goes on Strickland's organized labor friends who got this vote called). However, our party bylaws specifically state that an endorsement needs to be held in the year the primary takes place (2016, not 2015) and the endorsement needs to be "carefully considered" if there's more than one person running for the nomination and they completely ignored Sittenfeld's candidacy. In fact, the only reason they had this meeting rushed was because they knew Sittenfeld would be absent (due to pre-scheduled campaign events) and they wanted to keep this as secret as possible. If this endorsement says anything, it says that Strickland after finding out he's been out-raised is beyond desperate to crush Sittenfeld's candidacy and is scared to run on his record in a Democratic primary.

I'm usually against competitive primaries, but after what happened last year, and given the large contrast between Strickland and Sittenfeld, we should be given an engaging, contested primary. I myself would much rather prefer Strickland drop out, but that's much more unlikely than a primary.

A primary would help Strickland get back into fighting shape and Sittenfeld would be able to build his name statewide (look how well the Chiles-Nelson FL primary went for Nelson or how well the Lausche-Gilligan OH primary went for Gilligan). There's Ohio Democrats who want an experienced candidate next year, but there's also Ohio Democrats who want a change from the past retreads towards younger aspiring and energetic candidates.