Clark Strength in Ohio Can Help Kerry Deliver the State to Blue

[cosmokramer]

http://www.daytondailynews.com/localnews/content/localnews/daily/0328ohio.html

The above article talks about Kerry and Ohio and how winnable it is for the Dems. Note the mention of the Kerry campaign actively capitalizing on the strength of the Clark (and Dean) camps. This is why Kerry sends Clark to Ohio to speak on his behalf. Choosing Clark in the administration and letting it be known to Ohioans will definitely help with the effort to win Ohio, not only because of the great strength of the Clark ground forces, but because Ohio is a heavy veteran and military state leaning moderate.

Kerry would be smart to play Clark well here, and perhaps also make a place for Dean somewhere in the administration. Without the Clark and Dean groups in Ohio, Kerry has no organization to speak on his behalf, and he will lose Ohio.

Snip:

Historically, Montgomery County has been home to swing voters, said Ruvolo. He still remembers the 1988 election. In the presidential race, the senior Bush got nearly 60 percent of the Montgomery County vote against Democrat Michael Dukakis. In the U.S. Senate race, however, Democratic incumbent Howard Metzenbaum got about the same percentage as he drubbed Republican challenger George Voinovich, Ruvolo said.

"That's a swing county," said Ruvolo.

One reason Montgomery County remains more competitive than other urban counties is that Democratic-leaning Dayton makes up a smaller percentage of the county's population than do the dominant cities in other urban counties, Nathanson said.

EDITED BY ADMIN: COPYRIGHT

[goclark]

1. Go Clark!

Charm the folks in Ohio!

Once they meet you,they will respect and honor you like I do.

[cosmokramer]

2. We already love him here .

:D

[Carolinian]

3. I met him

and I WASN'T impressed. Sorry.

[Name removed]

4. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[newyawker99]

7. Hi Carolina Girl NC!!

Welcome to DU!! :toast:

[Name removed]

11. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[citizen snips]

22. And I bet she does not care. . .

if you did or did not ask her.

[Crunchy Frog]

5. Hey Cosmo,

Have you heard anything about whether Clark's appearance in Ohio that he had to cancel, is going to be rescheduled at some point?

I know how much you were looking foreward to it the first time.

[cosmokramer]

12. Yes, actually.

We are working on getting him here for our next function.

I will keep everyone updated about it. As soon as I know, you all will know.

[Moderator]

6. cosmokramer

Per DU copyright rules
please post only four
paragraphs from the
news source.


Thank you.


DU Moderator

[cosmokramer]

14. Didn't know that....

...thanks. Though I would have prefered to include the snips that refer to the topic mentioned in the subject line...

[Padraig18]

8. Edwards did really well in Ohio, too, as I recall...

With Ohio being so important, we shouldn't forget his 2nd-place finish, or his demonstrated appeal to Independents and moderate Republicans, either.

[cosmokramer]

10. No, JE did not do well in Ohio.

His second place finish was only because he was the only other candidate in the race at that point, and it was a distant, distant 2nd place.

He had ZERO organization or ground support here. NONE. Edwards doesn't help Ohio at all.

[Padraig18]

15. He did better than Clark. n/t

[Cuban_Liberal]

16. LOL!

:evilgrin:

[cosmokramer]

17. In the primary election?

Considering Clark was OUT of the race for three weeks prior, I would certainly hope so.

Did he do better in Ohio generally, uh, that would be a resounding NO.

[Cuban_Liberal]

18. He DID do better, 'generally'?????????????????????????

:wtf: There's no way in hell that his fifth- or sixth-place finish in Ohio can be spun into a 'he did better than Sen. Edwards in Ohio', period. There is no evidence whatsoever that Gen. Clark helps us win Ohio more than Sen. Edwards does--- N-O-N-E.

[AP]

25. Edwards still beat Clark even after they were both out and I'm willing to

bet that Edwards continues to beat Clark in the remaining primaries even thought they're both out.

[AP]

24. OH JRE's best N'ern Super Tuesday state...and there's a good reason he was

still in the race then!

It's so silly to say "he only did well because he was still in the race," when you're advocating that someone else who was running and had to drop out EARLIER should be on the ticket.

[WI_DEM]

9. my view

I honestly don't think Kerry will choose any of his competitors for the nomination for the second spot. I get the idea he thinks that Edwards doesn't have enough experience. Clark is a political novice and Dean would be too much of a loose cannon.

If votes are taken in consideration Edwards did get over 400,000 votes in Ohio. But he was still an active candidate. Of the inactive candidtes Dean actually came in fourth with over 30,000 votes (DK came in third, in his homestate)and Lieberman came in fifth and Clark came in sixth after Lieberman with about 1.2% of the vote.

[cosmokramer]

13. That may be true...

...but some have a better chance than others. For instance, Kerry will not choose a legislative only experience running mate. That will not happen, guaranteed. So that eliminates a rather large pool: Edwards, Gephardt, Lieberman (and every other Dem Sen. or Rep. without Exec experience).

He won't choose Dean, well, because the damage is done.

He won't choose Graham because he is a little too quirky for the general populace (great guy, brilliant thinker, but those notebooks, Oye).

Richardson or Clark have a much, much better chance. DK, well, he never really was an option.

Votes aren't a consideration. Afterall, by the time Ohio ran around, nearly all the Clark groups were already helping Kerry, so of course he wouldn't have 'votes'...he had been out of the race for three weeks, and all the support transfered to Kerry. The organizations to help move the Dem vote are the consideration. Edwards had none. At least Kucinich and Lieberman managed to get more of their delegates slated than Edwards did. In fact, only Clark and Dean slated all their delegates. Edwards only had 22 statewide out of 91! No buzz for him whatsoever. The same can be said for all others except Clark and Dean, which is why the Kerry campaign is agressively recruiting the supporters of those two candidates.

[LuLu550]

19. MMMMMM! Wes!

You have nice pictures of him! :loveya:

[usscole]

20. Clark would be a disaster

Clark has no filter between his brain and his mouth. Also, he is vulnerable to the flip-flopper tag. Gephardt would be a much better choice. He is great on the jobs issue, voted to give Bush the authority to invade Iraq, and Missouri is a key state.

[Cuban_Liberal]

21. Gephart can't deliver MO.

His Congressional district may love him, but there's absolutely no reason to believe that his state does; in fact, the contrary is more likely to be true...

[LandOLincoln]

23. Gephardt would be a great Secretary of Labor, but

a disastrous VP choice. He's way old news.

[usscole]

26. Old news ain't bad for VP

And I don't think that a governor would be a good choice because of the focus on foreign policy issues. Gephardt is strongest where Kerry is weakest and could actually help him win Missouri, which Kerry needs. Edwards brings nothing but a nice smile.