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Ellen Belcher is the Dayton Daily News opinion pages editor. She writes about state government, education, the environment, higher education and all things Dayton.
Martin Gottlieb is an editorial writer and columnist for the Dayton Daily News opinion pages. He focuses on the political process itself and does such national issues as war, the economy, taxes and Social Security, as well as a hodge-podge of local and state issues.Home > Blogs > A Matter of Opinion > Archives > 2011 > June > 16
Thursday, June 16, 2011
Editorial: Big LeBron win: united Kasich and Strickland
It’s a measure of just how tightly the LeBron James/Miami Heat story has gripped Ohioans that even Gov. John Kasich has joined the crowd.
Once upon a time, Gov. Kasich — then just a candidate — didn’t think Mr. James was worth the attention of a governor. And that was only a year ago.
Northern Ohio, along with much of the state, was frantic over the possibility that the superstar of the Cleveland Cavaliers basketball team might leave for Miami, Chicago or some other city.
A radio interviewer, Alan Colmes, on Fox, asked former Rep. Kasich if he would join “the chorus for keeping James in Cleveland.”
A member of the chorus in good standing was then-Gov. Ted Strickland. He had participated in a video aimed at persuading Mr. James to stay.
Mr. Kasich said, “I’m not singing in any chorus for LeBron James.”
The host was taken aback. Question: “You’re not?” Answer: “No, I’m not.”
Earlier in the interview, he had said, “Alan, we’ve lost 400,000 jobs out here, and the last guy I worry about is LeBron James…. We think we’ve got a great guy there that can turn everything around, but we’ve got some serious problems.”
Exactly who thought Mr. James could turn everything around — by simply not leaving — the candidate did not specify.
Since taking office, of course, Gov. Kasich has been involved in every high-profile situation that might involve jobs, as many people thought the James issue did. He got money for the Bob Evans restaurant company to move within the state, so that it wouldn’t move out. He has a list of such intercessions.
And now he’s willing to engage the James issue (though, in truth, that certainly isn’t going to bring any jobs to Ohio at this stage).
Specifically, the governor has issued a declaration making the Dallas Mavericks “Honorary Ohioans” in the wake of their victory in the National Basketball Association finals June 12 over Mr. James and the Miami Heat.
The declaration doesn’t mention Mr. James, but it’s all about him.
“Whereas the Dallas Mavericks displayed the loyalty, integrity and teamwork essential to victory … affirming that these admirable traits are as crucial as talent and athleticism” — a reference to the departed Ohioan — “the proud city of Cleveland and the entire state of Ohio share in the excitement of Dallas Mavericks fans everywhere.”
The governor also mentioned Mavericks’ star Dirk Nowitzki, who kept “his talents in Dallas, thus remaining loyal to the team, city and fans for whom he played his entire career.”
(For those who don’t follow this sports stuff: Mr. James had gone to Miami saying that he really wanted an NBA championship — or several — and that he didn’t see one coming his way in Cleveland.
(The lifelong Ohioan joined two other megastars on a vaunted team that has now failed to win the championship. His own play and on-court behavior have come in for a remarkable barrage of criticism.)
Rooting against people has always been part of the sports experience, here and around the world. It may not be the most attractive human characteristic, but it’s not the worst, either.
And if a governor wants to join in an emotional experience that’s unifying Ohioans, well, that’s as natural for politicians as was Gov. Strickland’s effort to get Mr. James to stay.
If Mr. James didn’t accomplish his most obvious goals, he did bring the last two governors of Ohio together on the gubernatorial relevance of basketball. Las Vegas would have given odds against that.
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Martin Gottlieb: Golfing through D.C. gulfs
If you were John Boehner, and you were playing golf with the president, and he was bringing Joe Biden, whom would you bring? Of course: John Kasich.
Boehner surely wanted to spare himself the thankless task of picking a golf partner from among his congressional colleagues; that would be a great way to tick off about 60 politician/golfers. And he certainly didn’t want to pick from among the presidential candidates. Who needs that grief?
And picking one of the big-business lobbyists he is known for golfing with would not have been quite the ticket.
Beyond all that, though, there’s just something sort of fitting, isn’t there, about the Biden-Kasich pairing?
No chance of the motor mouth of a vice president dominating the conversation with Kasich around.
Both Kasich and Biden have enjoyed reputations at various times and places for loving the sound of their own unscripted voices. And for occasionally being better off with a script.
One imagines Biden and Kasich going off into the woods in pursuit of errant golf balls and striking up a conversation characterized by the sound of two voices talking, in which nobody hears anybody. It’s a “Saturday Night Live” skit.
But, of course, that’s the sideshow in Saturday’s foursome. The real question is about Obama and Boehner: Will they hear each other?
Specifically, can they progress toward some sort of agreement on raising the national debt limit or perhaps some other conflict further down the road?
Everybody on both sides and in the media is saying not to count on it. This is just social, they’re saying. Maybe it’ll improve the relationship, and maybe that will someday matter somehow. But don’t count on anything concrete.
Everybody may be right. Truth is, Obama and Boehner are probably not even motivated by the desire to make headway, so much as by the desire to be seen trying.
The golf date didn’t just materialize suddenly as somebody’s inspiration. The idea has been talked about in the media, starting months ago.
Lots of people in Washington remember president/speaker relationships of old, wherein leaders supposedly had useful cross-party relationships. Ronald Reagan and Tip O’Neill. Bill Clinton and Newt Gingrich. Dwight Eisenhower and Sam Rayburn.
Meanwhile, golf courses have a special place in tales of Washington relationships. This makes sense even to those of us who don’t golf: There’s so little action, there’s plenty of time to talk.
Obama is being praised for willingness to play with a much better, far more serious golfer in Boehner. Surely Obama would rather invite Boehner to a basketball court. But who’s going to buy that as a conversation venue?
Boehner said explicitly during the 2010 campaign that he and Obama had no real relationship.
After last year’s election made Boehner speaker, various aides were reported in The New York Times to say they “could not recall a single one-on-one meeting or substantive phone call” between him and the president.
Said Democratic strategist Steve Elmendorf, “I’m surprised Obama hasn’t done more to develop; a relationship…. They both like to play golf. I’d invite him four times a year to play…. There’s going to be times when you’re going to need him.”
But little has changed. Boehner even turns down invitations to big White House dinners. It’s all business.
You have to wonder how much can change. Golf isn’t necessarily the solution to gulfs. The gulfs between the men are big, and Boehner doesn’t have a free hand, being under much pressure from the right. It’s a different kind of time than other speakers and presidents confronted.
If the two men can find major common ground, it’s most likely to be on some issue that isn’t bitterly divisive along party lines. They have agreements about foreign policy and education.
Boehner is known as the kind of guy you can have a beer with — or a smoke. Or a round of golf. Good. And surely it can’t hurt for for him to deal with Obama outside of tense negotiations.
But you get the feeling that mainly both guys just want to be able to say to the political world, “OK, we played golf. You happy now?”
SNL should be.
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