Fisher Proves He’s No Liberal Lion
In early January of 2006, Eric Fingerhut announced that he would be running for governor in the upcoming Democratic primary against Ted Strickland. When this announcement was made, his long-time rival for the title of Northeast Ohio’s favorite Jewish liberal, Lee Fisher, was raking in the dough heading up a lucrative non-profit, his once promising political career in shambles after back-to-back defeats in state-wide races during the 1990s.
Strickland was confident he could defeat Fingerhut but wanted to get him out of the race and knew exactly how to do it. Before the month of January was over, Strickland had offered Fisher a spot on his ticket as lieutenant governor, knowing Lee had fundraising contacts in the Cleveland area’s Jewish community, the same folks Fingerhut was counting on to give his own campaign a monetary boost.
This stroke of political genius tossed Fingerhut to the curb, since the deep-pockets crowd knew that Strickland was the best candidate for the job and now had a politically defensible reason to say no to Eric. It also basically gave Strickland the governorship because the Republican nominee was obviously going to be the man sometimes referred to as the brother-from-another-planet, Ken Blackwell.
Following Strickland’s overwhelming victory, Fisher found himself- almost by chance- at the head of the class and with a gold-plated ticket to a Senate seat in 2010, which most believed would be open upon George Voinovich’s expected retirement. Good-naturedly dubbed “Landslide Lee” because of his razor-thin victory in the 1990 Ohio attorney-general’s race, Fisher was certain – especially after Obama’s 2008 triumph in Ohio – that he would silence those critics who labeled him lazy and lackluster by triumphing over the GOP’s likely candidate, Rob Portman, who could easily be tied to the failed Bush administration.
With the help of Strickland’s strong arm tactics and fundraising connections, Fisher easily beat Jennifer Brunner in the Democratic primary and – well, let’s just say it’s been all downhill ever since. And that’s no surprise to anyone who has watched Fisher’s career over the past nearly 20 years. For any true liberal, something Fisher fancies himself to be, to win in the state of Ohio, it takes passion, tenacity and the willingness to fight hard and take tough stances on tough issues.
The classic example of this was Howard Metzenbaum, who repeatedly trounced opponents even though the majority of Ohioans disagreed with him on many issues. Sherrod Brown also fits in this category of a hard-nosed fighter who makes no apologies about where he stands on issues. Lee Fisher? Not so much.
Invariably, the first thing you hear about Fisher from talking to area Democratic insiders is that he doesn’t return phone calls. While this may be perceived as petty sniping, what it speaks to is a lack of willingness to do the grunt work needed to maintain and nurture relationships – something that Fisher is apparently unable to do, as witness the disastrous fundraising for his senatorial run.
Going into this month, Fisher had a measly $376,000 in his campaign coffers (as compared to Portman’s $6.2 million), had run only one statewide commercial and, with two weeks left, there are questions as to whether he will advertise again before Election Day. Both critics and supporters of Fisher are not surprised by this, attributing it to a “let somebody else do it” attitude on Lee’s part about asking people for money.
While in the Ohio Legislature in the 1980s, Fisher sponsored some worthwhile legislation, including the Child Safety Law, and following his 1998 defeat for governor, he did exemplary non-profit work. But strictly from a policy standpoint, he has accomplished little of substance and has never been viewed as a relentless leader on hardcore progressive issues. And after being fortuitously plucked from political obscurity by the hand of Ted Strickland, he has essentially been a cipher as lieutenant governor, coming up woefully short as the governor’s chief economic developer and not being able to convincingly explain why.
Ironically, his old foe Fingerhut arguably has done more to aid Strickland in his cabinet-level role as Ohio Chancellor of Higher Education by developing the University System, which has helped reign in soaring tuitions and generally streamlined numerous consumer-unfriendly practices in Ohio’s network of colleges and universities.
To top things off, Fisher has run a non-descript campaign lacking both strength and clarity. The fact that he has failed to land a glove on Portman, a relatively empty suit who was basically a disaster while serving George W. Bush as both trade czar and director of the Office of Budget and Management, is testimony to his ineptness as a candidate.
The main lesson of Lee Fisher’s tepid run for U.S. Senator is that if you are a self-proclaimed liberal fighting to be elected in Ohio, you had better either roar like a lion or get ready to be buried in a landslide.
Larry Durstin is an independent journalist who has covered politics and sports for a variety of publications and websites over the past 20 years. He was the founding editor of the Cleveland Tab and an associate editor at the Cleveland Free Times. Durstin has won 12 Ohio Excellence in Journalism awards, including six first places in six different writing categories.
2 Responses to “Hearts & Minds: Fisher Proves He’s No Liberal Lion”
Hank Summers
The final paragraph contains a pretty serious typo. It should read “tepid run for U.S. Senator” rather than “tepid run for governor.”
sarahvalek
The post has been corrected. Thanks!