The final lineups are far from submitted for the 2016 November elections but some things are starting to look clearer. The top of the Republican ticket is very likely to be occupied by a radical. Currently Donald Trump and Ted Cruz, (in that order), are the favorites. That means the Democrats will look a lot more acceptable to many voters and they will start “checking the D box” at the top of their ballot. I am not among the optimists that feel the House will be in play but the Democrats certainly have an outstanding chance of taking back the Senate. That means that progressives have to rally behind electable and acceptable Democratic Senate candidates even if they are a little more moderate than we would prefer. Ohio’s Ted Strickland is one of these candidates and a Democratic victory in Ohio would almost certain portend a great evening for the Party.

Strickland has a history of taking on right wing extremists and defeating them. In his first successful House race (1992) Pat Buchanan, then sitting Vice President Dan Quayle and Oliver North all visited his district and campaigned for his opponent. That is pretty heavy artillery for a House race! Strickland lost his initial bid for re-election in the wave election year of 1994; then got his seat back in 1996 and held it until he changed jobs for the Governorship of Ohio in 2006.

He was narrowly defeated for re-election to the Governor’s Mansion in another wave election in 2010, by John Kasich. I still think there is a decent chance of Kasich being on the national ticket which makes having a strong Democratic Senate candidate all the more important.

The most interesting thing in Strickland’s non-political background is that he has a Master’s degree in Divinity and was a Methodist minister at one point in his career.

He checks the progressive boxes when it comes to supporting public education, veteran’s benefits and investments in infrastructure. He supports Obamacare but, like most Democrats, (probably including President Obama,) wants to see some improvements. He is a defender of both Medicare and Social Security. He is opposed to privatizing either. He has strong union support which speaks volumes to me and means a lot in the Rust Belt!

Perhaps outside the liberal box, (but in my opinion not only reasonable but correct), he supports the Castle Doctrine. He has fought the NRA when necessary but is not “knee jerk” on guns in either direction. His stances on capital punishment have been thoughtful and cautious. He defies pigeon holing on taxation, preferring to look for savings without sacrificing the people he is elected to serve. Strickland is impossible to define on the subject of choice. This much he has proven over the years; he will not support extreme legislation. If you send him an anti-choice bill that doesn’t at least contain provisions to protect the victims of rape and incest along with the life of the mother it is dead on arrival at Ted’s desk.

While Ted Strickland is not a progressive from “central casting”, he is a proven winner with a more than acceptable track record who would be a damn site better than incumbent Republican Senator Rob Portman and can deliver Ohio as part of the Democrats retaking the Senate this fall. Tellthetruthonthem.com proudly endorses Ted Strickland for the United States Senate in Ohio and urges all our Buckeye state readers to get out and support him at the polls.

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