WASHINGTON -- Ted Strickland may have lost his campaign for reelection as Ohio governor, but he's not planning on disappearing from public life anytime soon. Since the state is no doubt going to be a battleground again in 2012, Strickland says the Democratic Party needs to hold on to the infrastructure it built up in the midterm elections and possibly launch a new progressive organization focused on building ideas and launching rapid-response pushback.
In a sit-down interview with The Huffington Post on Tuesday in Washington, D.C., Strickland said a central part of this effort would be an ambitious Ohio-based organization providing policy ideas and campaign-style communications to help the Democratic Party reclaim congressional seats and pave the way for Obama to win the state in 2012.
"So we were just talking, and [one of my top advisers] said, 'We've got to hold on to the intellectual capital, the political capital, that we have here. We've got to keep this team connected. We can't, you know, let it be lost because there's a fight to be fought,'" said Strickland. "And so, it was her idea, and the rest of us thought it was a good one, to look into developing an Ohio kind of Center for American Progress organization, where we could provide an almost -- quite frankly, almost a continuous campaign of reacting, providing research, communications ."
He stressed that this is still just a kernel of an idea, and while he would be initially involved, the organization and infrastructure would need to be built up separately to succeed in the long term without his participation. But nevertheless, the differences between the two parties and ideologies need to be clearly defined -- something that progressives have not been strong enough on.
"I think when the base understands that that's what's at stake, the base is going to be much more willing to engage and to join the fight," he said. "The base is going to be less willing to join the fight if they don't see the clear differences. The differences are there, for God's sake."
Ohio was a tough state for Democrats in November. They lost all of the statewide races on the ballot, and Republicans picked up five U.S. House seats and won a majority in the Ohio House. In 2012, Democrats will be fighting to not only win the state in the presidential race but also to reelect Sen. Sherrod Brown, who has been a champion to many progressives.
A Democratic strategist who worked on an Ohio congressional race in 2010 stressed that it will be an uphill battle for the party.
"I would argue there's less infrastructure than perhaps a lot of people think. I think there's a lot of local infrastructure... and at least a handful of county parties that are well organized and capable of putting some things together, but I think that the organizational prowess and capacity of the Ohio Democratic Party was somewhat overstated in 2010," he said. "Arguably if we're looking forward to 2012 be it for Sen. Brown or the president, there's an awful lot of work that needs to be done and frankly, mending of fences with the activist communities -- and a lot of volunteers and activists who need to be brought back into the fold and convinced that it's worth their while to come back into the fold."
Strickland pointed to the progressive momentum that sprang up in opposition to President Bush -- from blogs to increased funding to new organizations -- when progressives found new energy in speaking out about Bush's policies, especially the Iraq war. The outgoing governor said he believed the new Republican governor, John Kasich, needs to be made into Ohio's George W. Bush.
"Well, we think John Kasich can make this a successful effort because he has, in [my] judgment... ideas that are outside what would be considered mainstream political thought in Ohio," said Strickland, stressing that it wasn't about "sour grapes" over his loss to the former Fox News host and that he believes, with the right planning, Obama can win the state in 2012.
"He's sending back $400 million in passenger rail money that we got," continued Strickland. "He says he's determined to dismantle my education reforms, which Education Week said took us from 26th in the nation to 5th in the nation. His public statements about, you know, you get on my bus or I'll run you over with my bus -- those kinds of sentiments may be good for a campaign; I don't think they're positive."
There are already several progressive organizations in Ohio, working at both the activist and policy levels. Brian Rothenberg is executive director of ProgressOhio, a nonprofit progressive advocacy organization. He said that what their side really needs in Ohio is funding to compete with right-wing independent groups, and he believes Strickland could be useful in strengthening existing groups. He warned, however, about recreating the wheel of what's already out there.
"The big problem in the past two years in Ohio, I believe, is that there has not been the funding commitment for the state-based groups that has been happening in previous years," said Rothenberg, adding, "I think part of it is that a lot of the funding sources that sort of filter through Washington, through the Democracy Alliance and other entities don't always get to the state-based organizations. So from our standpoint, especially on the c4 electoral side, there was a severe funding gap compared to previous cycles."
"I welcome him to work with the progressive groups that are here," continued Rothenberg of Strickland. "I think that it could be a very good thing if the existing groups are strengthened and we find a way to [close] the disconnect between Washington -- especially when it comes to funding -- between Washington and the states. I really believe, having watched the Buckeye Institute -- which is a 501(c)(3) here -- and American Crossroads and some of the other groups that have been flying through Ohio, that it was really evident that... the independent Republican movement was very well-funded and continues to be very well-funded."
Being out of office -- or on the way out -- often allows for more candor, and Strickland is no exception. Also in his interview, Strickland told HuffPost that Democrats suffer from an "intellectual elitism" that prevents them from adopting the type of populist tone to relate to voters.
In contrast, when asked by HuffPost about President Obama's recent statement that he should have worked with congressional Republicans more -- a comment that infuriated many members of his progressive base -- Maryland Gov. Martin O'Malley (D-Md.), the incoming chairman of the Democratic Governors Association, was much more reserved.
"I think we need to come together to solve problems, regardless of our political perspective on those problems," he said at a press conference with other governors fresh off campaign wins, adding, "I read those comments in the paper as well today. I can tell you from our standpoint, we're about getting results."