Behind the Strickland mask
Is it just me or is anybody else confused about who’s occupying the Governor’s mansion in Bexley, Ohio? It seems to me that the only thing I’ve heard about the new administration since Ted Strickland became the governor of Ohio is that he’s adopted many of his predecessor’s projects and “good ideas”.
Let’s see, there’s Strickland’s “Turnaround Ohio” plan that relies heavily on the resource pools created by Taft’s Third Frontier initiative. Then there’s the new governor’s emphasis on environmentally friendly technologies and renewable energy. Hmmm… didn’t Taft do some stuff there.
The similarities between Taft and Strickland don’t end at the policy table - they seem to have similar personalities. While it would be difficult for Strickland to reach Taft’s height of aloofness, their mannerisms are strikingly similar. Neither fills a room with their persona and they share equal billing in their unassuming nature and utter dullness.
The real irony is that during Taft’s last few years in office it was hard to determine who disliked him more, Democrats or Republicans. In the end, it looks like the voters of Ohio may have gotten exactly what they thought they didn’t want - another four years of Bob Taft.
Sorry, but this is silly beyond description. And if this is an example of the quality of your thinking and reasoning, then I would consider just giving it up and doing something else.
I scarcely know where to begin, but let me try. First of all, the guy has barely gotten into office, so you might consider giving him, say, another month at least before you’ve formed real impressions of his administration. Hell, maybe even two or three months. Secondly, only a fool would come in and change things just to change them (and just because he’s a Dem and his predecessor was a Republican), and he seems to be rather less than a fool. He may well make changes, but don’t you think any responsible administrator would first look around and do a little studying and kicking of tires before making wholesale changes?
Obviously, you’re on the right, and begin with a negative view of the guy. That’s fine–we all have our biases and preferences, political and otherwise. But give the guy a moment to take his jacket off and begin working before you assess his work.
February 22nd, 2007 at 6:10 pm
John:
Sorry that you found it silly beyond description, but the facts speak for themselves.
Somewhere in your rush to paint me as being an agent of the right, you seem to have missed this statement -
“I’m not saying that the work Strickland is doing is bad…” - in the middle of the post.
The point I was making is that they’re very similar and for all of the complaints that both D’s and R’s made about Taft, they elected someone who may turn out be another Bob Taft.
Though I will admit that I did assess his milk toast personality in less than glowing terms, any negative aspersions I made of his work came from your own perspective.
February 22nd, 2007 at 8:22 pm
[…] I just wanted to point out that plenty of you out there gave me a ration of crap for indicating that Ted Strickland would be another Bob Taft. […]
May 22nd, 2007 at 10:08 pm