(Columbus) - Ohio Republican Party Chairman Kevin DeWine issued the following statement today regarding Gov. Ted Strickland's news conference on the state budget:
"Ohioans have seen enough of the governor's partisan theatrics. The only political gimmick here is Ted Strickland's conduct throughout this budget crisis. Unfortunately, it's not clear anymore whether he's the governor of Ohio or the chairman of the Ohio Democratic Party.
Gov. Strickland has had one motivating priority with this budget, and that's his own re-election. He failed to provide accurate and auditable budget information for months. He then cobbled together an unsustainable spending plan full of holes and patched it up with gambling revenue he's already declared a false solution.
He defied the will of the people to save his political hide and shoved a reckless sham of a budget down the throats of state lawmakers without any deliberation. The Ohio Senate won't just rubber stamp his partisan playbook or, better yet, do his job for him, so he resorts to his predictable partisan finger-pointing and political temper tantrums.
It's not hard to figure out why a majority of Ohioans disapprove of the way Ted Strickland is leading this state, and he'll be held accountable for it."
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For the Record:
Strickland's cares more about re-election than leading Ohio.
"The lack of leadership this governor has shown throughout this crisis is nothing short of appalling. ... At a time when Ohio desperately needs a governor who thinks first and foremost of the state's future, Strickland acts as if that future begins and ends with his 2010 re-election campaign." (Brent Larkin, The Plain Dealer, 6/28/09)
Strickland has "shamelessly" put politics ahead of leadership.
"The governor alone isn't accountable for Ohio's well-being. But he is the man at the top. And he has an obligation to level with people about what will happen if Ohio just cuts its way out of its hole. He has shamelessly not done that. And it's because his foremost concern is being re-elected." (Ellen Belcher, Dayton Daily News, 6/26/09)
Strickland has "run from" his responsibilities.
Why were Strickland and the Democrats so eager to regain the Governor's Mansion and legislative power, only to run from the very responsibilities they fought so hard to win? (Editorial, Columbus Dispatch, 5/1/09)
Strickland typically resorts to partisan responses.
If the past is a guide, Strickland aides will dismiss Batchelder's gripe [about Pari Sabety's faulty budget numbers] as a partisan talking point. That's the administration's one-size-fits-all response to whatever it doesn't want to hear. In this instance, that would be a mistake. The Budget Office was once among Capitol Square's most open agencies. Strickland has walled it up. Claims of budget "transparency" seem to have an inverse relationship to the real thing. That's why, headlines aside, Batchelder spoke to an audience primed by frustration - an audience that knows talking points aren't a Republican monopoly. (Editorial, Cleveland Plain Dealer, 3/20/09)
Strickland's budget called "a book of political fiction."
Strickland handed his fellow Democrats in Ohio's House a book of political fiction, with a cover calling the contents a budget. House Democrats kept the book's cover, rewrote many of its chapters, and then handed the messy manuscript off to state Senate Republicans. (Editorial by Thomas Suddes, Cleveland Plain Dealer, 5/24/09)
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