Opinion: Let the guessing game begin (it already has, anyway)
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It’s never too soon to speculate about choices for vice president.
Actually, it’s absurdly early to do so, but that doesn’t keep such ruminations from occurring. And over the summer, a fair amount of buzz hummed around the Democratic governor of Ohio, Ted Strickland.
Not exactly a familiar name to you?
Well, according to his wife, he’s not an especially recognizable fellow even to his own constituents. But such a handicap isn’t necessarily a disqualification for the second spot on a presidential ticket (think Dan Quayle; or, precisely on point, Spiro Agnew). And before we get to the anecdote from Ohio’s first lady about her husband, let’s review the chatter surrounding Strickland’s national prospects. ...
The Cleveland Plain Dealer’s Brent Larkin laid out the case for his homestate pol in a column in mid-July that began: ‘There’s a long list of reasons why Gov. Ted Strickland probably will be on any Democratic presidential nominee’s short list of potential running mates. Let’s start with the obvious: Republicans can’t keep the presidency unless they keep Ohio in the win column.’
Larkin was referencing one of the most entrenched historical facts in U.S. politics --- no GOP candidate has ever won the White House without carrying the Buckeye State.
Shortly after Larkin’s article appeared, nationally syndicated commentator E.J. Dionne Jr. penned a column that, while not deigning to indulge in vice presidential talk, touted Strickland’s political skills and the lessons his party’s presidential contenders could glean from his style. Days later, a Washington Post piece walked through his attributes as a running mate (as well as giving a nod to a potential negative --- at 66 years of age, he’s old enough to be Barack Obama’s dad).
Late last week, the bandwagon continued to roll with a column by Scott Shepard of the Cox newspaper chain’s Washington bureau that was headlined: ‘Latest Democratic VP Speculation Centers on Strickland.’
It must be pretty heady reading for Strickland, whose career has had its fair share of downers. A one-time Methodist minister and prison psychologist, he three times ran unsuccessfully for the U.S. House more than 25 years ago, finally won a seat in 1992 and then lost it after one term. Undeterred, he regained it in 1996 and served in relative obscurity until, aided by scandals plaguing the Ohio Republican Party, he was elected governor with more than 60% of the vote last November.
But here comes his wife, Frances, to keep matters in perspective.
The Sandusky Register in Ohio reported that at a political picnic late last month, she told her listeners that the governor was shopping for shoes recently when another customer asked him for help.
As Mrs. Strickland related it, her husband explained that he didn’t work at the store. ‘Well, you sure look like a shoe salesman to me,’ the other customer responded.
It beats being mistaken for the proverbial used-car salesman.
And even if Frances Strickland was exaggerating for effect (variations of the tale are commonplace among public officials wanting to show a modest side), it demonstrates that political smarts run in the family.
-- Don Frederick