- Governor may come to regret his words
- Critics right to question train system
- Riding the rail – Ted Strickland rightly touts a $400 million investment. What he shouldn’t dismiss are the legitimate questions
- Ohio will have to spend plenty to keep passenger trains running
- Criticism comes with job, Governor
Those headlines all come from columns in major newspaper publications across the state since Governor Strickland last week called critics of his Slow-Speed Choo Choo “Cheerleaders of Failure”.
As I’ve mentioned before, in a political environment more strongly against wasteful or inefficient spending than has been seen in years, the Governor tying himself to the rails is a risky proposition.
And not being able to handle the criticism is a good way of getting off on the wrong foot.
Instead, the Governor should be pushing his side of the story, no matter how right we on the opposing side may be. Convince those in the middle that it’s good for Ohio, and you stand a shot at at least stemming the tide of public opinion.
But Strickland’s outburst only encouraged Ohio’s newspapers to write once again about how risky the idea is, at best, and highlight what a horrible idea it is, at worst.
With salesmanship abilities like these, it’s no wonder NCR left Ohio.
