Sen. Coughlin Tilting at Windmills or Just Building the Name Rec?
Filed under: Education, Education Funding in Ohio, Gov Strickland, State of Ohio Govt, ohio politics
He Can’t Really Be Running for Governor
Question: What distinguishes State Sen. Kevin Coughlin from any other Republican in Columbus?
Answer: Nothing.
What is this all about if it’s not about ego? Coughlin is running for Governor? Yep.
This quote from the Dispatch article takes the cake:
Promising to change “the smallness of our politics and our government,” Coughlin said, “We have to make sure we are focused on issues that are really important to Ohioans and there is nothing more important than reviving our economy and bringing jobs to this state and retaining jobs.”
The only “smallness” in Ohio politics and government has come from two places over the past six or seven years:
- Ohio Republicans
- Marc Dann
The only adults in the room at any given time on Capital Square are Ted Strickland and sometimes Sen. Harris. It appears that Strickland has put forth something the Republicans couldn’t do in sixteen years of being in charge – a plan for reforming Ohio’s education system. I also seem to remember that last year the Governor dragged the Republican House and Senate through the Energy bill. Without Ted Strickland’s leadership, Ohioans would be paying more to heat and light their homes and Ohio businesses wouldn’t be able to count on stable energy costs. Republicans came along, but only at the Governor’s urging.
Republicans have done a lot of small talk over the years when it comes to state regulatory reform – Strickland has done something about it. An Associated Press article that got more treatment around the country than it did in Ohio reported a couple of weeks ago about the weeks of time businesses are being saved in their dealings with Bureau of Workers Compensation. Not too long ago Strickland had ODNR, Ohio EPA and the Army Corps of Engineers all in one room for a week to fix the problems with some coal mining permit processes.
The “biggest” thing that’s happened to Ohio politics and its positive impact on people since the bygone era of Vernal G. Riffe and Jimmy Rhodes is Ted Strickland.
When Coughlin talks of “smallness” in state leadership he need only look at his own Ohio Republican Party for the best contemporary example.
