A storm's a-brewing: Leadership contests coming on both sides of the aisle
The Dispatch ran a story today that everyone knows is out there but no one seems to really want to talk about yet: the upcoming leadership changes that must occur on both sides of the aisle in the Ohio House.
I suppose there is potential for blood on both sides, but it appears likely that only the Republicans are really going to tear each other up. Rep. Mark Wagoner, a Toledo are representative, is Husted's heir apparent. However, he will almost certainly face a tough challenge from Bill Batchelder, a 30 year veteran of the House who just rejoined the fiesta this year after an 8 year stint as a judge. Batchelder, who lost the speakership to Jo Ann Davidson his first time around, badly wants the top job.
According to the Dispatch, Wagoner has built a lot of support within the Republican caucus, but Batchelder is running a different type leadership campaign:
While Wagoner is working within the caucus, Batchelder has built a team on the outside with help from key GOP figures such as Franklin County Republican Chairman Doug Priesse, who says Batchelder has "more legislative history in his little pinky, and he's got a mind like a steel trap."
This is a smart move on Batchelder's part, especially if he returns to a tactic he has used in the past. In past cycles, Batchelder would recruit conservative primary challengers in Republican districts in order to increase his own base of power. Also, come January 2009, the Republican caucus will have 20 new members assuming that the Republicans hold all the seats they currently have. If Batchelder recruits his own candidates and steers them through the primary, he may pick up quite an advantage.
Of course all of this is moot if the Democrats pick up the four seats needed to retake the House. On our side, the leadership contest is not so clearly defined. All but one member of the current leadership team are up against term limits, and the Dispatch writes that there could be as many as seven members vying to be top dog. The article even mentions freshman Rep. Ted Celeste as a candidate for leadership, a prospect previously discussed here at BSB.
Ideally, the fact that we have a higher goal (retaking the House) will keep everyone's egos in check, so the caucus can be successful come November 2008. We can only hope that the Republicans will take the lower road and spend the next year and a half ripping each other up.
Anyways, give the article a read.
UPDATE: Because of a bit of bad blogging on my part, I'm apparently trying to influence the leadership race from my desk chair. I've been reminded that the member of the Dem leadership who isn't facing term limits deserves "as much attention and focus name as a freshman member." So here we go...one sentence...as much as Ted Celeste got: Rep. Todd Book of Portsmouth is the only member of the Democratic leadership not facing term limits. Phew, glad we cleared that up.
Todd Book (D-Portsmouth) just happens to be the Assistant House Minority Leader who is the "one member of the current leadership team" not facing term limits in 2008.
I would think that a senior member of the House leadership team which is responsible for putting our caucus in the position to retake the House without control of the redistricting pen (something the Republicans did not achieve) deserves, at a minimum, as much mention as a freshman member of the caucus who's biggest claim to fame is being the brother of our last Democratic Governor. Especially given that Book also just happens to represent the home county of our current Governor as well. I'm not saying I'm privy to any insider baseball (I'm not!), but it's worth mentioning.
I accidentally posted anonymously, so if I'm repeating myself, I'm sorry.
Todd Book (D-Portsmouth), the second ranking Democrat in the Ohio House, is a senior member of the very leadership team that has put the caucus in the position of re-taking the House despite not holding the apportionment pen (something the Republicans in the 1990s couldn't even achieve.) I think for that reason alone, Assistant Minority Leader Book, at a minimum, deserves to mentioned by name and should be given as much attention and focus as a freshman member who's biggest claim to fame is being the brother of the last Ohio Democratic governor. (If not more!)
Oh, and another reason? Book just happens to represent the birth county of our current Governor. Not that I'm privy to any insider baseball here. As far as I know, the Governor probably would prefer the House caucus to settle this on his own. But if you're underestimating Book's strengths, you're doing our party a true disservice.
It's not like I served in leadership offices in the Democratic caucus of both the House and State Senate, then went to work for a Congressional office of our future Governor, and then predicted that he would be a strong candidate against much skepticism in the blogsphere.
Oh wait, I did do all that!
He's going to need that $100k to defend his seat probably. A third of Celeste's pre-election money came from Ohio Democratic Party funds. Funds that Todd Book helped raise money for. Celeste was recruited to run by the same leadership team that Todd Book is a member of now. Right now Celeste is a receipiant of Democratic Party fundraising, he hasn't been a huge donor to other campaigns or back into the party yet. And that's what really matters in a leadership race.
Ted is probably going to stay on the sidelines on this one. But let's face it, Columbus is going to have a powerful voice in the Democratic House Caucus whether Celeste is the head of the caucus or not. Southeastern Ohio, Strickland's birthplace and former Congressional district, will not have that option.
Also, consider history. The last Democratic Speaker of the House was Vern Riffe, who just happened to represent essentially the same district as Todd Book (who just happens to be the longest serving Speaker in Ohio history, the namesake of the Vern Riffe Center on Capitol Square, and several buildings on the campus of Shawnee State University, in Portsmouth, Ohio.) If the Governor is pushed into this fight, he's going to have pressure from his old constitutency to bring the Speakership back to Scioto County. You wanted insider-baseball, there it is!
All I'm saying is that given that Todd Book is the current Assistant Minority Leader and has been an active of the very leadership team that has brought the caucus in the position to recruit candidates like Ted Celeste and bring the caucus to the brink of majority status against all odd. At a minimum, he deserves the respect to be mentioned by name. In all honesty, I think Book deserves more than that. But he doesn't deserve to be glibly mentioned by reference.
It's not like I served in leadership offices in the Democratic caucus of both the House and State Senate, then went to work for a Congressional office of our future Governor, and then predicted that he would be a strong candidate against much skepticism in the blogsphere.
Oh wait, I did do all that!
He's going to need that $100k to defend his seat probably. A third of Celeste's pre-election money came from Ohio Democratic Party funds. Funds that Todd Book helped raise money for. Celeste was recruited to run by the same leadership team that Todd Book is a member of now. Right now Celeste is a receipiant of Democratic Party fundraising, he hasn't been a huge donor to other campaigns or back into the party yet. And that's what really matters in a leadership race.
Ted is probably going to stay on the sidelines on this one. But let's face it, Columbus is going to have a powerful voice in the Democratic House Caucus whether Celeste is the head of the caucus or not. Southeastern Ohio, Strickland's birthplace and former Congressional district, will not have that option.
Also, consider history. The last Democratic Speaker of the House was Vern Riffe, who just happened to represent essentially the same district as Todd Book (who just happens to be the longest serving Speaker in Ohio history, the namesake of the Vern Riffe Center on Capitol Square, and several buildings on the campus of Shawnee State University, in Portsmouth, Ohio.) If the Governor is pushed into this fight, he's going to have pressure from his old constitutency to bring the Speakership back to Scioto County. You wanted insider-baseball, there it is!
All I'm saying is that given that Todd Book is the current Assistant Minority Leader and has been an active of the very leadership team that has brought the caucus in the position to recruit candidates like Ted Celeste and bring the caucus to the brink of majority status against all odd. At a minimum, he deserves the respect to be mentioned by name. In all honesty, I think Book deserves more than that. But he doesn't deserve to be glibly mentioned by reference.
In my last post I pointed out that a third of his campaign money came from the Caucus Fund and ODP (which implies that two-thirds did not). So, of course, Ted raised more money from his own private contacts as any candidate should be expected to do so.
My real point was that Celeste has still been predominating a beneficiary of our campaign funds, not a serious fundraiser. The $100k he's raised so far is impressive, but as a freshman member of a takeover district, I'd expect that his seat is going to be targeted and he's going to need it.
I don't know if Strickland personally recruited Celeste or not. Even so, that still leaves the caucus with six other pickups they got from their recruiting efforts, which is a strong testament to their political leadership.
Why does it matter when they decided to invest in Celeste campaign? The obvious conclusion is that it was a smart political move on their part and was an important factor in his victory, no?
Sorry, but I want a Speaker or Minority Leader with an institutional memory of the House longer than a single term. That's just me. But I'm not going to apologize for saying that the second highest ranking Democrat in the House should be given the promotion given the obvious successes of the caucus against all odds over an unproven, freshman member.
Jeebus, you'd think the smiley would have been the first freakin' clue that it was meant as snark.
Second, you've demonstrated absolutely no evidence that you're any expert on anything at all. I've at least identified my creditials, where's your experience?
Nice straw man argument. I never said that whoever holds Vern Riffe's seat should become speaker. What I said is that Scioto County benefitted greatly from having the Speaker of the House represent them (thus the Shawnee State University) and nobody appreciates the Vern Riffe connection more than Governor Ted Strickland. What I said was that if Governor Strickland is viewed in having any say in the matter, he's going to face rather intense pressure from his most loyal and longest members of his base to support Todd Book's candidacy over a freshman member from the Columbus area because they are going to want him to seize the opportunity for Southeastern Ohio to control both the Governor's Office and the Speaker's chair. If you don't see how the spectre of Vern Riffe could impact the politics of the race for what could be the next Democratic Speaker of the House, then you really are utterly clueless. (Not to suggest that the Strickland camp back in Southeastern Ohio is monolithic on the issue, there are some things I can't discuss. But regardless, the overwhelming view is that if the Governor is going to get involved in the caucus leadership election, he's going to face intense pressure from long-term loyalists back home from his early unsuccessful congressional campaign days to get on the Book bandwagon.)
"Book has zero buzz" Says who? You, anonymous?
Did I said Celeste is disqualified from being an integral part of the House Caucus leadership? No. But I think it's ridiculous to say he is prepared to lead the caucus, or the entire House, after only serving one term. I've yet to hear an argument why Celeste is a better pick utter than he's raised money that he hasn't donated to the caucus or other key candidates.
BTW, Strickland also recruited and heavily campaigned for Todd Book, too, during his initial run. So big deal.
P.S.- Book has donated over $25,000 to the Democratic Caucus Fund during the last reporting cycle alone. As well as made several donations to several key house candidates, just as he did all during 2006. If you don't think that doesn't create buzz, you're blind. Because the only votes that matter are the very caucus members Book has been writing checks to keep/get elected.
Which is all the more reason you value a member of the leadership who has it, not discount it as worthless.
Yes, yes, everyone knew that the Democrats were going to retake the House except the inept leadership (that Celeste re-elected.) Never mind that it was still the single biggest gain by a minority caucus not affected by redistricting. Never mind that a handful of losses were close enough to have made the improbable happen. Yes, it's all the House leadership's fault, now. Give me a break! Because we all know that internal poll numbers always pan it in every races. Newsflash: The Republicans broke the bank to save the House because they could once they knew they're statewide candidates were tanking. The ODP, which has wandering the wilderness for over a decade in obscurity, didn't have the financial resources to compete with the flood of money.
They won seven, by the way. It's right there in the second paragraph of the linked Dispatch article.
Also, Celeste gave less than half what Book donated to the caucus in the last reporting period.
Look, I don't feel the need to "puff out my chest" about my credentials. But when I'm personally attacked that I don't know what I talk about, I assume the person is challenging my experience because they don't know it. So, I put it out there and ask the person to put theirs out so we know what playing field we're on. You raised the issue of my qualifications, and I simply responded and asked you to return the favor.
I come here because I want there to be a healthy debate on this and other issues. But the debate has to be honest and focus on facts and figures. It can't just be the usual ra-ra-rah cheerleading, "my guy's great, everyone sucks" talking past people dialogue. Let's have an honest debate.
I don't think Ted Celeste isn't a valuable member of our caucus, or highly qualified. Nor do I necessary think he shouldn't be a member of our leadership in the future. Where I diverge from you is the idea that Celeste should go from freshman member to the leader of the entire caucus in the span of one term. That's all. And I particularly did not care that this post mentioned only Celeste by name, but not the current second-ranking Democrat in the House who is also running.
I found your comment about Sheehan ironic given my recent post.
Look, I didn't appreciate being treated like I'm stupid or ignorant simply because I think Assistant Minority Leader Todd Book deserves more consideration than what this post gave him (in all fairness, as a Scioto County native, I know Rep. Book and met him on several occasions). My comments about the Governor and the late Speaker Riffe was intended to introduce what I thought would be an interesting dynamic that most people wouldn't have thought of.
I'm sorry if you've been offended. My only intent was to respond to you and engage in a healthy dialogue that debated the issue.
We also need someone from a solid Democratic district so there isn't a chance for our future Speaker of the House being beaten in a marginally Republican district.
I'm sure there are a few candidates out there that meet those credentials so let's not limit ourselves to talking about Ted Celeste and Tood Book.