Ohio Senate Minority Leader Eric Kearney is a gentleman. In my experience, he has always approached the legislative process openly and with a willingness to listen to all parties involved. To be sure, Leader Kearney is a good person.
That said, when Eddy Fitzgeräld announced that Kearney would be joining him on the November 2014 ballot as his choice for Lt. Governor, he did himself no political favors and continued his trend of campaign blunders.
First, while Kearney is a nice guy, he’s unabashedly liberal. He’s good friends with President Barack Obama at a time when the President’s approval numbers are dropping to all-time lows and he’s 100% supportive of the President’s disasterous healthcare law that is killing Ohio jobs and remains so unpopular, barely 1,000 people have signed up with it.
And on top of it all, Kearney is on record saying that giving money back to taxpayers is “un-American.” This, after he voted for one of the most irresponsible state budgets in state history, putting Ohio in an $8 billion budget hole.
Yes, Kearney is a good guy—but that doesn’t win you votes. The number one rule for choosing someone as your running mate is “first, do no harm.” This pick reinforces what we’ve been saying for months: Fitzy is an out-of-touch, tax-happy, corrupt gaffe-machine.
Think Fitzy wants to raise taxes? Eric Kearney already did that! And he thinks tax cuts are un-American! Want to know if Eddy-Boy loves Obamacare? Look no further than Eric Kearney’s unqualified defense of the law and his friendship with the President himself.
And if you doubt it for one second, just take Kearney’s word on it:
“In a lot of ways, [we] finished each other’s sentences,” Kearney told his hometown newspaper. “That was a good indication in my mind.”
In other words, Kearney’s attachment with the President, Obamacare and calling tax cuts un-American can and will be applied to Fitz. Not exactly the best political move. And that holds true even if Fitzy hadn’t botched the announcement.
This was a huge news day in Ohio. Just ask one of the guys that covers the Statehouse everyday:
Need further evidence this was a rush-job? How about the fact that Fitzy was scheduled to be at a Cleveland Young Professionals event tomorrow night, but now will be in Toledo to announce his LG choice:
Why the rush, Fitzy? Is your campaign hitting the panic button for some reason, ya know, other than the fact that the campaign has a grassroots problem and your own council keeps questioning your ethics? What changed this week?
Oh yea: the fact that it has become glaringly obvious that Fitzy has struggled to attract endorsements from key political leaders in the African American community.
When Ed FitzGerald announced his run for governor, he turned to Louis Stokes, revered former congressman and civil rights leader, to introduce him…
But seven months later, support from other black leaders is lukewarm at best.
That story ran today, but the fact that black political leaders aren’t high on Fitzy has been apparent for a long time. We’ve already noted how Congresswoman Marcia Fudge—Chair of the Congressional Black Caucus—has withheld her endorsement from Fitzy for months. But it’s not like other black leaders have stepped up to side with the Cuyahoga Facebook Fiend.
So with voters catching on that Fitzy’s relationship with the African American community is on thin ice, and after already botching just about every other component of his campaign, Fitzy was left scrambling to plug the leaks in his sinking-ship of a campaign.
That’s why he rushed the announcement for Lt. Governor to the point of using the first and third person when he posted the message to Facebook:
“Today Ed is proud to announce that State Senator Eric Kearney of Cincinnati is his choice to be my running mate…”
He needed to shore up support in the African American community, so he turned to Senator Eric Kearney. And in one heck of a hurry.
The writing is on the wall: this was a desperation move, made in haste and without thought to the policy and political ramifications of choosing someone what loves Obamacare and hates tax cuts.
Just another blunder in a long line of missteps that makes up Eddy’s gubernatorial campaign. 2014 looks to be a very long, long year for Eddy Fitzçerald.
