Rhodes’ reference to the old-time comedy team dated him.
Stan Laurel had died in 1965 and Oliver Hardy had been telling jokes in the afterlife since 1957.
Incumbent Democrat Dick Celeste was very much alive, however, and cruised to re-election with 60 percent of the vote, denying Rhodes a fifth term.
Now there’s a different Democratic governor seeking re-election.
Unfortunately for Gov. Ted Strickland, he really is running against two opponents in 2010.
Most Ohio voters have never heard of Strickland’s first opponent, Republican John Kasich, the former U.S. House member, Fox News commentator and investment banker.
A Quinnipiac University poll released last week found that nearly seven out of 10 Ohioans — 69 percent — didn’t know enough about Kasich to have an opinion of him.
For Kasich, ignorance was political bliss.
He was tied with Strickland at 40 percent each, with the other 20 percent undecided, supporting somebody else or just not interested.
Kasich’s surge — Strickland led 56 percent to 26 percent in February — probably had more to do with Strickland’s second opponent than with Kasich.
Who’s the second opponent?
It’s Ted Strickland, the governor himself. Elections almost always are about the incumbent’s record and 2010 won’t be different.
When times are good, incumbents get credit, whether they helped the economy boom or just went along for the ride.
When times are bad?
They get blamed, even if they’re mayors and governors and the economic collapse is national and global.
That blame helped fuel Dayton Mayor Rhine McLin’s defeat on Nov. 3 at the hands of political newcomer Gary Leitzell.
McLin personally had little to do with NCR’s decision to flee Dayton.
However, she was a handy and visible target for her hometown voters’ economic frustrations.
It’s hard to calculate Strickland’s personal responsibility for the 339,000 jobs Ohio has lost since he took office in January 2007.
The governor’s catchy 2006 campaign slogan, however, set him up for a possible fall in the campaign against himself.
He promised to Turn Around Ohio and hasn’t.
There’s time for Strickland to turn around what voters think of him. An economic uptick would do wonders.
If his campaign TV ads can convince voters that Kasich, through his stint as a Lehman Brothers managing director, helped destroy the economy, that would help, too.
Kasich, of course, will fight back and remind voters about the third candidate in the race: “Turnaround Ted.”
Contact this reporter at (614) 224-1608 or whershey@Dayton DailyNews.com.
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