Ohio governor quiet on casinos

COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) - Arguments for and against casinos bombarded Ohioans via the airwaves, phone lines and news media for weeks.

But the state's first citizen, and the bearer of its most powerful bully pulpit, was largely out of sight and out of earshot. Where was Gov. Ted Strickland on the casino issue leading up to Tuesday's election?

Strickland's face appeared on a mailer against the proposal to allow casinos in Cleveland, Columbus, Cincinnati and Toledo, but he was far from loud in his opposition. Conversely, he spoke at a rally and voiced a robo-call urging Ohioans to vote at the polls Tuesday for Issue 2, which would establish a board to oversee the care of livestock.

"I think he's been very quiet throughout the campaign other than he did make the statement that he's opposed to it," said Tom Smith, public policy director for the Ohio Council of Churches, which asked for the governor's help in opposing the casinos. "He just never really followed up much on it."

The governor was in a tight political spot after a slew of labor organizations, whose support Democrats need to get elected, endorsed the casino plan because of its promise of jobs. If Strickland were to aggressively oppose an issue they felt was important, it could hurt him both in terms of votes and campaign contributions when he runs for re-election in 2010.

Strickland also spent a considerable amount of effort talking about gambling this year, switching his long-held anti-gambling stance to plug a budget hole by supporting slots at horse racing tracks — only to see the Ohio Supreme Court throw a wrench into those plans.

Amanda Wurst, Strickland's spokeswoman, disagreed that Strickland wasn't active in the anti-casino campaign. She said Strickland's activities on casinos shouldn't be compared to his work for Issue 2 because each campaign had different tactics and goals.

"The governor has been an outspoken critic of Issue 3 for months and has taken every opportunity to remind Ohioans how bad a deal this is," Wurst said.

At an anti-casino news conference last week, U.S. Sen. George Voinovich, a Republican, mentioned several elected officials who were against casinos but weren't in attendance. Strickland's name was conspicuously absent.

The Ohio AFL-CIO , the Fraternal Order of Police, the Ohio State Building and Construction Trades Council, and the United Food and Commercial Workers are just a few of the labor organizations that lined up behind the casino plan, a marked reversal for labor from past gambling issues. In 2009, Strickland has received $5,000 from the Ohio AFL-CIO, $5,000 from the Building and Construction Trades Council, more than $10,600 from the United Food and Commercial Workers, and $1,000 from the Fraternal Order of Police, according to campaign finance records.

"I'm sure that enters into the picture," Smith said, referring to labor's potential clout with the governor.

Strickland's predicament is illustrated by Franklin County Commissioner John O'Grady, a Democrat who decided to come out against the casino issue because he thinks it will harm Columbus. He said the governor's office asked him to get involved against the casino issue.

"It was a hard thing to do," O'Grady said. "When you get in politics one of the golden rules is that you always stick with the people who got you where you are. Labor's not shy about letting folks know that they expect and hope that folks they've supported are going to be with them."

Strickland also has to reconcile coming out in favor of slot machines to support the state budget after saying for years that gambling was bad for the state.

"It looks like he is not entirely credible on this, the way he would have been if he had stuck all along to his anti-gambling stance," said Paul Beck, an Ohio State University Political Science Professor.

In the end, the governor may not have helped the anti-casino campaign by making lots of comments and appearances.

The Ohio Poll by the University of Cincinnati released Friday had Strickland's approval rating at 48 percent — the first time the poll has had him below 50 percent since he took office in January 2007.