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

[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

[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.

[Flake]

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

[Flake]

Sittenfeld disclosure months late; investigation likely

"Sittenfeld wouldn't run if he had a scandal because he saw what happened to FitzGerald"

RIP FITZY TALKING POINT (2015-2015)

[Flake]

How does getting crushed 3-1 in a primary help his career again?

Name recognition!1!!

But it doesn't help that this is likely to be a very low turnout primary. Didn't Strickland also represent an Appalachian district? I don't really see then how Sittenfeld gets protest votes from them (because of soshulist obummer) if Strickland represented them.