Please fill me in on mayor coleman(???) of Columbus

[Polethebear]

My sister who lives there swears up and down he should be your next governor.

Is she right???

[orion9941]

1. There is a very good chance that he may...

but then again the republican juggernaut machine here hasn't really gotten rolling yet.

He has a better chance than anyone else in the past, but as politics go in this state, I would say that you have a 50/50 chance.

[Maccagirl]

2. He got into a shouting match with Glen Beck

That's a check in the plus column for me.
He's my mayor, and is a good man and a good administrator. I agree with the first poster that he has an uphill battle working against the Repuke infrastructure and an incompetent Ohio Dem "leadership".

[OzarkDem]

7. Didn't he also invite Louis Farrakahn

to an event?

He just doesn't strike me as being an experienced campaigner.

[Yogi]

3. I'm going with Ted Strickland.......

He's got my vote.

[lizziegrace]

4. He's a democrat who

sometimes calls it like it is and is at time an opportunist. (Isn't any politician??) I've been impressed by a few of his initiatives here in the city, but the jury's still out on his ability to handle a state in the mess this one's in. Just my 2 cents.

[Hippo_Tron]

5. Strickland seems like he has a better shot attracting moderate voters

Both sound like pretty solid candidates and both seem like they have pretty good solid stands on Democratic principles. It's easier to gague this with Strickland because he has a congressional voting record, Coleman not so much.

My opinion, Strickland should be the nominee and Coleman should be his running mate, espcially if it's a serious primary. That way, the dems will be united behind Strickland/Coleman and will turn out on election day (turning out your base is everything in an off year election).

[OzarkDem]

8. Stickland has better name recognition

which always counts for a lot in Ohio (see Bob Taft).

[BillORightsMan]

6. I Like Mike!

I first got interested in Mike Coleman while working for General Wesley Clark's campaign in Ohio...

Coleman Endorses Clark For President
Coleman To Serve as Ohio Campaign Manager

POSTED: 10:41 am EST December 23, 2003
UPDATED: 11:25 am EST December 23, 2003

COLUMBUS, Ohio -- Democratic presidential hopeful Wesley Clark got his first endorsement from a big-city mayor when Columbus' Michael Coleman announced he supports the retired general.

Coleman also held a news conference on Monday to announce that he will serve as Ohio campaign manager for Clark and actively campaign for him.

"I intend on engaging in this race," Coleman said. "My endorsement is not an endorsement in name only. I'm going to campaign for this man because I believe in him."

http://www.nbc4i.com/news/2722875/detail.html

Coleman also has called for the resignation of Taft:

"Bob Taft has had many achievements in public office, and his conviction was truly tragic," Coleman said. "It is time for him to do the honorable thing for the state of Ohio and resign from office. I was fully prepared to accept his apology, but revelations about what the governor knew or when he knew it are crippling the state's ability to get to the bottom of the larger scandal."
http://www.nbc4i.com/news/4874547/detail.html?subid=10101341

And he's keenly aware that AG Petro is badly stumbling and bumbling in his investigation into COINGATE . So he's recommending a new Office of Public Integrity (from his website):

To ensure corrupt state officials and contractors pay for their crimes, Mayor Mike Coleman has proposed a new Office of Public Integrity with full prosecutorial powers. Coleman, a Democratic candidate for governor, has also called for elevating the crimes of public corruption in state government to a felony instead of a misdemeanor.

"When crimes are committed in state government, it should be one person's job to put the criminals in jail," Coleman said. "We should not have to rely on local elected officials or the federal government to go after these scofflaws."
LINK

All in all, I think Coleman's got STARCH. And I think Strickland is somewhat of a DINO (pro guns, anti-choice). But if Coleman doesn't get the nod, I'll help out Strickland. I kinda like the idea of a Coleman/Strickland or Strickland/Coleman ticket. But either way, we HAVE to soundly defeat Blackwell/Petro/Montgomery/Diebold, reach out to the rural (red) areas of our state, and push really hard to take back Ohio.

Now, if we can just get Paul Hackett to run against DeWine!


http://www.colemanforohio2006.com/

:patriot:

[lizziegrace]

9. Don't forget Losey running against Pryce! n/t