article showing rethug strategies re: Ohio: blaming dems

[amborin]

<http://wsj.com/article/SB122247679469381301.html>

[amborin]

1. here's some of the article:

by the way, dems, we need Ohio


"The economic debate in the pivotal swing state of Ohio is in many ways the reverse of the national debate.

In most places, Democrats are bemoaning the state of the economy and trying to blame the Republican president. But in Ohio, it's Republicans pointing to the state's economic woes and blaming Democratic Gov. Ted Strickland, who's in the middle of his first term.

<snip>

Gov. Ted Strickland greets supporters before a recent rally in Akron with the Democratic candidate for vice president, Sen. Joe Biden.
The Republican strategy could focus new attention in coming weeks on the economic condition of Ohio, a state so important in the Electoral College that no Republican has ever been elected president without carrying it.

In Ohio, a state suffering from both high unemployment and a rash of home foreclosures, "economic decline has been there for decades, so it's hard to attribute it to one party or another," says Paul Beck, a political-science professor at Ohio State University. "Many voters, I think, are more sophisticated than that, and recognize that poor economies are the result of a lot of different factors."

As the turmoil on Wall Street propels the economy to the top of the national list of voter concerns, Ohio illustrates that the political impact of economic anxieties still varies from state to state and region to region.

Normally, voters tend to blame the party of the sitting president for economic woes, which in this case means Republicans may suffer under President George W. Bush. But by blaming Gov. Strickland, Republicans hope to take some of the heat off their party and highlight their support of free trade, which has benefited the state.

Democrats acknowledge Ohio's troubles, but point to the governor's accomplishments on taxes and education as helping to improve its economy.

Both campaigns have spent significant time and money in Ohio, as polls continue to show the state remains up for grabs. Those polls also show that voters rank the economy as their No. 1 concern.

<snip>

The Republicans' case against Gov. Strickland is that he did little to stem a tide of job losses in the state in recent years. They also criticize his spending record, saying he took the state from a surplus to a deficit, clouding the state's fiscal prospects.

"There is a point in time when he must accept responsibility for the things going on in Ohio," says Kevin DeWine, deputy chairman of the Ohio Republican Party. "It's not fair to simply say, 'Well, Washington hasn't done its job, and it's responsible in total for Ohio's economy.' "

Republicans argue that the one bright spot in Ohio's economy -- exports -- indicates that their free-trade instincts have prevented things from being even worse. Ohio's exports grew 7.9% to $10.5 billion in the first quarter of 2008 from a year earlier.

Republicans say Gov. Strickland is putting that silver lining at risk by supporting Democratic presidential nominee Barack Obama, who's expressed skepticism about free trade. Among other things, Sen. Obama has called for reconsidering details of the North American Free Trade Agreement.

Gov. Strickland's first line of defense has been to try to reassure voters that Ohio isn't so bad off. He too has cited the export data, as well as in-state tuition freezes and property-tax reductions. He contends that changes in the tax system are making the state more business-friendly, and points to a bipartisan jobs-stimulus plan the state passed, as well as job gains in the professional, health and education sectors.

The goal, says Gov. Strickland, is to ensure that "as we move through this national economic downturn, we will be able to emerge in a way that has us well positioned to have an expanding, growing economy."

But while the governor talks up the state's economic successes, he and the Democratic Party insist that further accomplishments can only come with federal help -- including a win by Sen. Obama.

"We've done what we can from a state level," said Ohio Democratic Party Chairman Chris Redfern. "We cannot open up Nafta to ensure there is free trade in this state without a partner in the White House."

While Ohio may not be the worst-performing state, its economic problems are deeper than those of many other states, and have been going on longer. Even before the mortgage crisis, Ohio was already reeling from the loss of manufacturing jobs, especially in the auto industry.

Ohio's unemployment rate was 7.4% in August, compared with 6.1% nationally. Income growth also has been slower than in the rest of the country, as manufacturing jobs are replaced with lower-wage service jobs. As auto makers have taken a harder line with unions, many remaining manufacturing jobs now have lower wages and fewer benefits.

The state has suffered some of the worst of the housing-foreclosure crisis. The state had 11,359 foreclosure filings in August, according to RealtyTrac. That's down 36% from a year ago, but remains far above pre-housing bust levels.

Still, Oho hardly has the worst economy of a big industrial state. That distinction probably belongs to Michigan, which has the country's highest unemployment rate at 8.9%. There, as well, Republicans are trying to pin blame on a Democratic governor, Jennifer Granholm.

Seth Sansing, a 33-year-old from outside Toledo, said that the economy isn't doing great, but that "I don't know really that one person can entirely impact the economy." The problem is "it really starts locally and moves up, instead of coming from the federal government on down."

Still, Mr. Sansing said he wouldn't blame Gov. Strickland. But on the national scale, neither major party will win his vote -- he's likely voting for the Libertarian Party."


how are we countering this?????