Ted mines California gold

Don't look for Ted Strickland stumping in Ohio today. Like the Cincinnati Reds, the Democratic candidate for governor has a big game on the West Coast tonight.

Strickland, along with running mate Lee Fisher, will be in the affluent San Mateo County village of Atherton Friday night for a $5,000-per-couple fundraiser, where Al Gore is the featured guest.

The Strickland-Fisher fundraiser is at the home of Joel Hyatt, the son-in-law of former U.S. Senator Howard Metzenbaum and the one-time Ohio Democrat who took a beating at the hands of Mike DeWine in the 1994 Senate race.

Hyatt has been in California ever since, but keeps a hand in Ohio Democratic politics, prinicipally because he is known as one heck of a fundraiser. Hyatt sold his chain of storefront law offices years ago, but is now Gore's business partner in a news and information cable channel that caters to 18-to-34 year olds.