Two peas in a pod

The Ohio Republican Party will air a new radio ad Saturday packaging Democratic congressman Ted Strickland and U.S. Sen. John Kerry of Massachusetts together as "two peas in a pod.''

State GOP spokesman John McClelland said the spot will initially broadcast in the Toledo market only. That's because Kerry is scheduled to speak in Toledo Saturday night at a $150-a-person state Democratic Party fund-raising party at Leslie Adams Gallery.

"Two peas in a pod, because that's what they are,'' McClelland said in a conference call today. "Ted Strickland is basically John Kerry with a gun.''

The new ad cites similarities between Ted Strickland and John Kerry, who President Bush defeated in 2004 with a campaign that focused on Kerry's "flip-flop'' on Senate votes, public comments and other issues.

Here is the script of the radio ad:

It’s no surprise Ted Strickland is campaigning with John Kerry. Like John Kerry, Ted Strickland consistently votes for higher taxes, flip-flops on important issues, and has a less than impressive record in Congress. In fact in the past week he has voted for $70 billion in higher taxes and was ranked as one of the least effective members of Congress. Ohio rejected John Kerry two years ago and they will reject Ted Strickland’s record of fiscal irresponsibility in November. This message has been paid for by the Ohio Republican Party – http://www.ohiogop.org/ – and is not authorized by any candidate or candidate’s committee. The Ohio Republican Party is responsible for the content of this advertisement.

During a conference call with Statehouse reporters today, state GOP Chairman Bob Bennett said, "They both vote for higher taxes, they're consistently inconsistent, they have unimpressive and ineffective records in Congress. . . I don't think we have to portray Strickland as a flip-flopper. He is.''

"We're going to hit this guy every single day," Bennett said of Strickland. "We want to know what his program is for Ohio. We want to know what he stands for. And we want to know how he's going to be different from how he was as a congressman."

"Both Strickland and Kerry have a history of taking positions on both sides of an issue when it's politically advantageous, particularly Strickland's flip-flop on guns, immigration, on the casino gambling. . . '' Bennett said. "They just don't share the common-sense values of Ohio voters."

Asked about the Democratic Party's recent use of the "flip-flop" theme against Secretary of State Ken Blackwell, Strickland's Republican Party opponent, this week in relation to the proposed tax expenditure limitation (or TEL) ballot issue, Bennett said, "Yeah, but Ken Blackwell did not change one position. He accepted a different (legislative) vehicle, really to accomplish the same goal. . . The accusation that he's flip-flopped I don't think holds any water and Ohioans know it. . . Ken's a strong leader that Ohio needs for the next four years. He was able to get something accomplished even before he was elected governor."

Reaction from Ohio Democrats was swift:

"Ohio Republicans are running scared," Jess Goode, communications director for Strickland, said in a statement. "This is clearly an attempt to distract Ohioans from Ken Blackwell's massive flip flop on the TEL amendment just days ago."

The attempt at distraction won't work, Goode said.

"Ken Blackwell has a long, long history of saying one thing and doing another, and Ohio voters know it. Don't forget, this is the same person who said he was against gambling while owning stock in a company that produced slot machines. Before the primary he said he wanted to eliminate the new CAT (commercial activities tax), but now he's in favor of keeping the tax. And, as we all know, he was for the TEL amendment before he was against it."

Brian Rothenberg, spokesman for the state Democratic Party, reacted, “You’re kidding me.
Maybe Mr. Bennett has forgetten John Kerry almost won the state of Ohio and his opponent, George W. Bush, has an approval rating that rival’s Richard Nixon's at the time of Watergate.''

Referring to today's visit by President Bush to Northern Kentucky, Rothenberg added, "I bet ya Bush doesn’t cross the border."

"Ken Blackwell, in the last week, has changed his position on the TEL, on redistricting and on the CAT tax,'' Rothenberg said in an interview. “The bottom line is after 2004, I expect Bob Bennett to do nothing more than to continue to try to mislead Ohio voters. His candidate right now changes more positions on a daily basis than a cat has lives.”

Carlo LoParo, spokesman for Blackwell's gubernatorial campaign, said, "Ted Strickland has just an awful record as a member of Congress. . . It's almost unbelievable where you can charge 'flip-flop' when someone takes a key (piece) of his economic strategy and convinces the General Assembly to enact it. That's not running away from the proposal. That's putting it into law and making it a reality. That's leadership.''

Strickland has voted for tax increases or against tax cuts "an astounding 62 times since 1992,'' LoParo said in an interview. And Ohioans have the third highest state and local tax burden in the country, he said, as reported by the Tax Foundation. "Ted Strickland cannot run away from his record of being anti-taxpayer and pro-tax.''

In a separate development this afternoon, former House Speaker Jo Ann Davidson, who is now co-chair of the Republican National Committee, planned a television broadcast feed to comment on Kerry campaigning Saturday in Ohio for Strickland.

Saturday morning, Kerry is invited to deliver Kenyon College’s commencement address. In 2004, students at Kenyon complained of waiting up to seven hours to cast their votes because of a shortage of voting machines. Similar problems were encountered in Columbus and Cleveland.

For more reaction to the "flip-flop" strategy utilized by both major political parties, read Sunday's Inside Columbus column in the Enquirer.