A fair number of Strickland’s fellow Democrats … view the former Ohio governor as yesterday’s news. Beneath the youthful glow and new fashion frames they see an aging and flawed candidate should he run for U.S. Senate.
Strickland, 73, lost his gubernatorial re-election in 2010. He’s now president of the Center for American Progress Action Fund, an incredibly liberal special interest group.
Despite this partisan work, Exner reports that a number of Ohio Democratic operatives are doubting Strickland’s electability:
"He is not a particularly strong candidate; he never learned to speak to Democratic voters in the northern part of the state," said Steve Fought, who has advised Ohio congressional candidates but is not working with any potential Senate candidates. Jerry Austin, a veteran of statewide Democratic campaigns in Ohio, believes Strickland’s age and half-dozen years out of office would make him a problematic nominee. "He’s going to be 75" in 2016, Austin said. "Everybody thinks he’s the strongest candidate because the Democrats have such a weak bench."
Strickland’s time has come and gone.