Ted Strickland: I will “absolutely not” be Obama’s running mate

[malik flavors]

Ohio Gov. Ted Strickland says in NPR’s “All Things Considered” that he would “absolutely not” be Obama’s running mate — even if asked to join the ticket.

“If drafted I will not run, nominated I will not accept and if elected I will not serve. So, I don’t know how more crystal clear I can be.” Permalink

http://thepage.time.com/2008/06/10/shermanesque/

Well, he better still work his ass off to help Obama carry Ohio.

[GarbagemanLB]

1. He's the douchebag who stood behind Hillary nodding while she went off on her 'shame on you!' rant?

[TwilightGardener]

3. That's him--Governor Bobblehead.

[OzarkDem]

36. See below - he's helping Obama in Ohio

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=132&topic_id=6338227&mesg_id=6338454

[Thrill]

2. They all say stuff like this until asked

[democrattotheend]

29. Nah, this is pretty firm

Usually they hedge a little more.

[Cha]

49. I'm sure Obama doesn't want him anyway..

NO bobbleheads need apply.

[WeDidIt]

4. I used to respect Strickland

Not any more.

[writes3000]

5. I don't think he was going to asked so fret not, Ted. n/t

[TexasObserver]

6. He never had ANY chance of being on the ticket, so it's a safe declaration.

[featherman]

41. Too old for one thing at 67.

[TexasObserver]

48. he looks, acts and sounds senile

[Mike L]

62. That describes McCain. em

[City Lights]

7. Fine with me. I don't want a bobble-head on the ticket anyway. nt

[C_U_L8R]

8. Who's asking him anyway?

Don't worry about it Ted.

[sandnsea]

9. Good. I didn't want him anyway

What an asshat.

[my3boyz]

10. He is sending his signals out that he does not support Obama. He wants McCain

to win Ohio so Hillary can run again.

[newmajority]

13. Most likely. And he'll probably help McCain win it.

Having the keys to the Diebold machines has its advantages.

[jsmirman]

17. Nah- he sounds like an excellent gvnr and he rode to power on a huge anti-corruption

groundswell.

Now after five seconds of watching not the you tube clip that most people refer to but another that is way more wtf, I knew he couldn't be on the ticket.

But I think you guys may be jumping the gun painting him as working against the party.

[nebula]

14. Say hello to Ohio voter fraud Part 2 in November

which Kucininch named under one of his articles of impeachment.

[writes3000]

16. I don't think we can jump to that conclusion...

Perhaps he thinks Hillary should be VP. If she really wants it, maybe this is his way of backing her - behind the scenes.

[Cha]

57. No hilary on the

ticket.

[CakeGrrl]

18. TRANSLATION: "Hillary told me to say no"

Who knows if she has her own whisper campaign going on, at least with her supporters? Maybe this is how they thwart Obama's attempt to unify and compromise...wouldn't put it past them.

On the other hand, I think the VP potential list that was "leaked" was probably a smokescreen to divert them from some of the REAL short list picks.

[my3boyz]

70. I was thinking the same thing! Obama is smart. The media will be surprised

when it is none of the above.......

[sufrommich]

30. He didn't say he doesn't support Obama! He said he doesn't

want to be his running mate.Lots of politicians won't be interested in the vice presidency(or the presidency,for that matter).It's not the first or last time a politician will adamantly refuse to be considered,it happens frequently. Stop trying to attribute evil mischief where none exists.

[BlueStater]

51. This place is still nuts as usual I see

Guess it's not safe to come back yet.

[Straight Shooter]

66. You insult nuts.

Think of the squirrels. :D

[book_worm]

11. Okay. What about Sherrod Brown? former congressman and now US senator.

[OzarkDem]

39. No way

Sen Brown has said many times he loves being in the Senate, he doesn't want to serve in an executive type political office. He loves Congress, he doesn't want to manage a big bureaucracy. That's why Ohio Dems could never get him to run for governor.

On edit: Sen Brown, who with Ted Strickland has a great base of support and campaign staff for Ohio, will probably help run Obama's campaign here.

[jefferson_dem]

12. Good! No bobbleheaded "yes men" need apply anyway.

Clear away the brush for some serious contenders...

[LTR]

15. He says he wants Obama to win

But won't be his running mate:

Despite his Shermanesque dismissal of being Obama's No. 2, the former minister and prison psychologist said he is committed to seeing Obama elected president.

When asked to rank the degree of difficulty of Obama carrying Ohio, Strickland says: “I would say somewhere around 5 in a scale of 1 to 10. I think it’s, I just think it’s a challenge because of the nature of our state.”

http://blogs.abcnews.com/politicalradar/2008/06/oh-guv-shermane.html

[jsmirman]

19. Funny, common sense came to this thread

in the form of three of us posting at exactly 4:28.

:thumbsup:

[Mike L]

22. Ohio's demographics are wrong for Obama.

I'd say BO's difficulty is 8 on the 1-10 scale.

[Mike L]

20. That ends Obama's last hope of winning the GE.

Getting Strickland as VP was the only shot at winning Ohio. Without Ohio, Obama loses the GE.

[Seen the light]

21. I say bullshit to both sentences in your post n/t

[writes3000]

23. Mike L is clearly rooting for Obama to lose. It's tedious and transparent. n/t

[Mike L]

27. Not at all. I hope BO wins, but I'm a realist.

[writes3000]

33. Bullshit. No, you don't. "There goes his last best chance to win the GE."

I'm looking forward to your change in tone and/or your decision to depart.

If you don't want to help Democrats win in the fall, don't fight against those that do.

[Mike L]

26. At least you agree with the third sentence.

[DefenseLawyer]

24. Bob Shrum called- he thinks you are a genius. n/t

[ellacott]

25. The only shot?

How do you come to that conclusion?

[Mike L]

32. BO must win OH. Without Strickland, he loses because

of OH's demographics and moderate to conservative leanings.

[muryan]

46. Obama doesn't have to win Ohio

And McCain has almost no support here. Its a toss up for good reason

[Mike L]

53. Obama is losing Michigan.

But he will need Ohio regardless.

[muryan]

67. There haven't been any polls out

Since Obama's been in the state. If you think McCain can win michigan, you have a very rosy outlook of his campaign.

[Mike L]

69. Michigan will be close, as will PA and WI.

Obama could lose 2 outta 3.

[muryan]

71. You're out of your mind

I would consider those 3 blue come GE, MI being the only one i would put in the lean category

[ellacott]

50. Almost every Ohio Gov. has been courted and a possible VP pick

It was the same way with Voinovich for the Republicans. When Taft first took office they said the same thing until he messed up so bad that he left office with an approval rating in the teens.

Strickland is not the only way that Obama could win Ohio. Strickland is a new Gov. If we stage a real campaign and mobilize the proper people we could win just like Strickland was able to win.

[Mike L]

56. Strickland is a former preacher.

That's how he won.

[ellacott]

60. No, he won because Ohio Republicans were scandal plagued

People were tired of all the scandals.

[book_worm]

28. that's nonsense. Survey USA has Obama up by 9 in Ohio

and Obama can win other states even without Ohio. It's time to stop only looking at Ohio and/or Florida as the only way to win. Obama understands that. He has a good chance to win Ohio and he can win without it, too.

[Mike L]

34. That poll is flawed. It polled Dems 2:1 over Repubs. em

[Teaser]

61. no, it polled that as the voter ID

voter ID swings wildly in these polls.

[OzarkDem]

63. or Pennsylvania?

No, Obama needs to try to win these states or he'll have an uphill battle.

[asthmaticeog]

43. With all due respect, which ain't much, that's horseshit. nt

[earthlover]

58. You are wrong. There are lots of ways to win without Ohio.

Defeatist thinking not exactly effective.

[Teaser]

59. Bullshit much?

.

[Raine]

31. Well good cause I could never get the image of that Bobblehead

standing behind Hillary out of my mind. x(

[OzarkDem]

35. Strickland's top aide to run Obama's Ohio campaign

This came out a few days ago.

Strickland, who ran a great campaign for governor in Ohio, especially in rural areas, has assigned his campaign manager to run Obama's campaign in Ohio. It will be a great boon to Obama, allowing him to quickly tap into Strickland's donors and base of support across the state.

So don't be too quick to jump on Strickland for refusing to be Obama's VP. Strickland has only been governor of Ohio for little more than a year and he has a ton of work to do to get the state back on track.

He did the best he could by putting his campaign manager in charge of Obama's campaign here. It will help Obama tremendously.

http://dispatch.com/live/content/local_news/stories/2008/06/07/pickrell.html?sid=101

[PBS Poll-435]

38. God Dammit!

You ruined yet another thread trashing a Democrat.

And you used facts and a link too.

You are really getting on my nerves!



:P



:rofl:

[OzarkDem]

40. I know, I'm so bad...

:spank:

[Drunken Irishman]

37. I don't think this has anything to do with him working to get McCain elected.

Believe it or not, sometimes people don't want to be vice president. I mean, if you look at the history, you're probably not going to get to the presidency that way anyhow.

[OzarkDem]

42. You're right

He's very committed to being governor in Ohio right now. 12 years of GOP rule has really screwed up the state. Strickland is just starting to get his programs going now, he has a lot on his plate. He really can't leave right now, he has so much going on.

[asthmaticeog]

44. This is good.

We need him in the Governor's office. He can work to deliver Ohio for the Dems without being on the ticket.

[zulchzulu]

45. What would he bring to the ticket anyway?

Yeah, Ohio... right...

[truthisfreedom]

47. Neither am I, Ted, neither am I. If nominated, I will not accept, if elected, I will not serve.

Of course, I'm only saying that because it's never going to happen. 8^)

[TexasObserver]

64. Yeah, I'm NOT Spartacus, either!!

[Forkboy]

52. What's he trying to say?

[Thrill]

54. He doesn't want to be VP thats all. For the record he said similar on the Ed Schultz show

about being Hillary's running mate. Doesn't sound like he wants to be on the national stage

[Freddie Stubbs]

55. He was elected Governor less than two years ago. Perhaps he wants to finish what he started

[BlueStater]

72. Thank you

A little bit of sanity among all the conspiracy theory lunatics who seem to have infested this place.

[Barack_America]

65. Good. I didn't want the "shame on you, Barack Obama" bobblehead to be VP anyway.

So nah!

:P

[Blue-Jay]

68. Good.

Revel in your dickishness, BobbleTed.

[WillyWonton]

73. Wow, Strickland not interested in being VP....

but says he believes Obama can win Ohio and will be our next president, and he is bashed by several Obama supporters. I just don't get it, where is this hatred coming from??? Did it ever occur to anyone that he may have no interest in serving in a higher office, not because Hillary told him not to do it, or because he does not like Obama? It is just mind-boggling, the bashing that goes on here if someone is perceived to not be 110% behind Obama (or you were a supporter of Clinton).

[genna]

74. Facts and a link to support the view is always helpful.

[WillyWonton]

75. read the article....the link is in the OP (n/t)