Exclusive: Kochs pull out of Ohio Senate race
Source: The Hill
The powerful network helmed by billionaire brothers Charles and David Koch is canceling advertising in the Ohio Senate race, a sign that Republican Sen. Rob Portman is viewed as increasingly likely to win.
The Koch network, which has already spent more than $10 million on TV, radio and digital advertising in Ohio, is cancelling about $2.1 million of ad reservations for late September because network officials believe Portman is in a strong position to defeat Democratic challenger Ted Strickland.
Rob Portman has run one of the strongest campaigns of the cycle, he maintains a significant lead in virtually every poll, and the dynamics of the race have changed, Koch network spokesman James Davis told The Hill on Tuesday.
We will remain on air through Sept. 14 with our current ads, but given Portman's strong position in the race, we are going to drop the remaining reservation and reserve flexibility over future spending.
-snip-
Read more: http://thehill.com/blogs/ballot-box/presidential-races/293854-exclusive-kochs-pull-out-of-ohio-senate-race
Buckeye_Democrat
(14,847 posts)Despite him being a former Governor, I'm a little disappointed that he was apparently the best that the Democrats could offer. He's too religious for my taste, but I'll vote for him.
SunSeeker
(51,369 posts)I'm not from Ohio, so I am not familiar with him, but he seems relatively decent. What do you mean by "too religious"? Is he a Bible-thumping, forced birth, homophobic 1%er's lapdog, like almost all Republicans?
Buckeye_Democrat
(14,847 posts)He's NOT one of those Pharisee-types who uses religion as a weapon to judge others harshly, but just the fact that he was ever a pastor and he advertised that experience to help become governor didn't appeal to me.
He also doesn't have "it" as a speaker. I basically like the guy, but I'm not too surprised that he's struggling in the polls. I suspect that Sherrod Brown would be kicking Portman's butt.
ProudToBeBlueInRhody
(16,399 posts)He's not a far right night job, despite being an awful Senator fiscally. He has a gay son, so my guess is he avoids the religious bullshit. He's already into his second term, which makes him harder to get rid of on top of that. It does seem strange Ohio would have a senator like Brown and one like Portman, but that's the way it is.
LisaL
(44,962 posts)any against Portman. So nobody should be surprised over these results.
SunSeeker
(51,369 posts)LisaL
(44,962 posts)Imperialism Inc.
(2,495 posts)that really opened the spread.
You see, Strickland had the misfortune of being governor during the financial crash and , not surprisingly, used the rainy day fund to keep people like cops and teachers paid. Portman has turned this into a flood of ads about how Strickland took the fund down to nothing. As he should have! It was a very rainy day! Anyway, it seems to have worked; no-one has ever accused Americans of having long attention spans.
SunSeeker
(51,369 posts)Laying off all those cops and teachers would have had a devastating domino effect on the economy, and caused untold human misery among the public from lack of needed services by those public servants.
Shame that he was put on the defensive. Strickland should have been bragging about what he did!
riversedge
(69,722 posts)cstanleytech
(26,080 posts)dawnie51
(959 posts)the Koch money was early and obvious. And the push back from Strickland didn't start until just very recently. Strickland is not a religious nut; he is very laid back and deserves better than this. Portman is a useless tool, but then, all of state government is that.
NBachers
(17,002 posts)kimbutgar
(20,882 posts)And present himself as an alternative who will get things done instead of being an obstructionist like Portman. Show the votes where Portman voted against doing bills to help the American people. It never hurts to try new approaches to reach voters. Unique innovative ways. Something tells me people are sick of those negative attack ad commercials. Try an "educational " approach.
not fooled
(5,791 posts)Koch $$S effectively herds the sheeple.
Wuddles440
(1,098 posts)Ohio Democratic Party needed to promote an inspiring candidate who could actually be competitive, instead of, an old retread like Strickland. They had an such an opportunity with Sittenfeld, but they didn't appreciate him questioning their coronation of Strickland as the Party's endorsed candidate. Strickland lacks charisma and his term as governor was unremarkable and coincided with the Bush recession. Of course, all the negative ads to date have placed the blame for those economic conditions solely on his mismanagement. Inaccurate, but very effective at "defining" him. Portman, who is NOT a moderate republican as some have described him, has really never been threatened by the Strickland candidacy and considered him a non-factor. Strickland was toast before he even left the starting blocks. While the new Party Chairman, David Pepper, has been a tremendous improvement over his predecessor, Chris Redfern, his unconditional support of Strickland was not one of his finest moments.
mackdaddy
(1,520 posts)of 2008.
Kasich and the Kochs did a good job of blaming Strickland for the Republican caused job losses which is why Kasich was able to beat Strickland in 2010, and Gerrymander the hell of of the state. They have just continued the smear in Strickland's run against Portman.
Strickland is still one of the best Democrats out there, but there are plenty of RW dumb-asses in this state. The Hillary hatred is pervasive, and I have seen many Trump yard signs already. (OMG) This is not helping Strickland either.
There were close to double the number of Republican votes cast in the primary election this year vs Democratic votes cast. Over 2 million total votes for Repubs vs 1.2 million for all Democratic candidates.
Thank god Trump is such an idiot or I am not sure we would have a chance in Ohio this year.
Imperialism Inc.
(2,495 posts)My wife and I both crossed over and voted in the Republican primary for the first time ever just so we could vote against Trump. Kasich won of course and at the time it seemed like there might be a chance to stop Trump. Plus we were happy with either Democratic candidate.