Debate Analysis: Heavy on attack, thin on details

The Plain Dealer

Sept. 15, 2010

Ohio Gov. Ted Strickland, challenger John Kasich go on attack in debate, go thin on policy details

COLUMBUS, Ohio — Democratic Gov. Ted Strickland and his Republican challenger John Kasich hurled at voters sharply different views of the Buckeye State, its government and policy prescriptions during their first debate Tuesday night. 

The two men, who once walked the halls of Congress together, also lobbed a few insults at each other, mirroring the negative messages their campaigns and surrogates are pushing in television commercials.

Strickland charged that Kasich's ties to a failed Wall Street investment firm make him unfit to be governor, while Kasich slammed the governor as a failure, especially on the jobs front.

"My opponent worked on Wall Street while I was here in Ohio fighting to create jobs," Strickland said. "He worked for Lehman Brothers, a big company that manipulated and lied and acted unethically and cost Ohio pensions over $400 million. . . . This is a question of Wall Street values vs. Ohio values."

Kasich pivoted around the charges to hammer his theme.

"We've lost 382,000 jobs on your watch," Kasich said several times. "You promised to turn Ohio around and you failed, and you want to blame everybody else. You got to learn to accept personal responsibility."

They faced off for 60 minutes at the COSI museum in Columbus and will meet again next month in Toledo. But the backdrop is inescapable: Ohio is struggling to shake off the worst financial crisis since the Great Depression and to fill an unprecedented budget hole that could hit $8 billion.

Neither candidate would spell out what he planned to cut or how he would raise revenue to fill a deficit. But that didn't stop them from clashing over the issue.

Strickland called Kasich's repeated pledge to cut the state income tax reckless while arguing that the state has cut its income tax 17 percent, and he has reduced spending by more than $2 billion.

"We've passed two balanced budgets in Ohio without raising taxes," Strickland said. "In fact, we've cut taxes. . . . Most of that while I've been governor. We've also given every senior citizen who owns a home in Ohio a major property tax cut, a property tax cut that averages $400 per senior homeowner, and we've eliminated taxes on military retiree pensions."

The state's income tax accounts for more than 40 percent of the state's revenue. Eliminating it could force dramatic cuts in the two-year, $50 billion budget and could affect police, fire and local government appropriations.

As part of a major tax overhaul passed by Republicans in 2005, the state has been phasing in a reduction of the state income tax. But to balance the current budget, the governor and the Ohio legislature delayed the final phase, a 4.2 percent cut. This helped fill an $851 million budget shortfall.

Kasich insisted throughout the debate that Strickland's delay of the final cut is a tax increase and that he continues to increase spending. Specifically, he said Strickland's current budget has increased by nearly 11 percent. But Kasich was not referring to the two-year state budget typically associated with the debate over spending growth. His figure included the state budget plus pass-through money for state and local governments.

The two also painted dramatically different pictures of Ohio's business climate and attractiveness. Strickland pointed to the Small Business & Entrepreneurship Council, which ranked Ohio 11th in the nation and first in the Midwest for overall business climate.

Kasich referred to the conservative Tax Foundation, which ranks Ohio's businesses climate near the bottom largely due to the foundation's emphasis on the state's overall tax burden, which includes state and local taxes in its rankings.

And Kasich used his preferred rankings to argue that Strickland is not facing reality.

"We can't keep doing what we're doing," Kasich said. "It's not a matter of being a cheerleader. One must face the facts. When you get hired as a CEO, you have a job to do."

Strickland had hoped to contrast his low-key, folksy style with Kasich's more kinetic manner.

Strickland's debate rehearsal included responding -- or not responding -- to an agitated Kasich. Ohio Democratic Party chairman Chris Redfern played Kasich in practice and purposely became animated and yelled at Strickland.

Kasich, a former Fox News personality, was toned down compared to his campaign events. Even so, Kasich's stage presence contrasted Strickland's slower and more placid demeanor.

While neither candidate reacted outwardly to the other's criticisms, Strickland looked bemused by Kasich's charge that he will raise taxes, smiling and slightly shaking his head. Kasich reacted with similar smiles and repeatedly called Strickland's charges a "political distraction" to his policies.

In the end, both succeeded in delivering their themes. Strickland said Wall Street and Lehman Brothers a dozen times; Kasich said jobs more than two dozen.