By Larry Durstin
As I always mention when doing a prediction column, an old gypsy fortune teller friend of mine once told me that predicting the future is often simply a matter of stating the obvious. And that it’s all about awareness, observation, insight and extrapolation and really has nothing to do with crystal balls or magical powers. With this in mind, here’s what the future holds in 2014 for the following:
The Cleveland Browns: The love that Romeo had for Juliet will pale in comparison to the love Browns fans will feel for Johnny Manziel, aka Johnny Football, or Teddy Bridgewater as the NFL draft approaches.
Starting in January, the drumbeat for the Browns to use their first pick in the first round on one of these two QBs will begin and remain unabated until the pick is finally made in early May. The sports-talk airwaves will practically short circuit sometime in March as the cry for each reaches epic proportions on all of the Browns 25 or so radio and television “flagship” stations. No matter what happens come draft day in early May, the Browns player personnel director Mike Lombardi will be beaten on by the fans as if he were a red-headed stepchild.
The Ontario/Prospect Skywalk: Rarely has so much been made out of so small a project. For some bizarre reason, some of those who oppose this construction believe it will signal the final nail in the coffin of Public Square walkability (such as it is) and the first step in a process that will destroy downtown Cleveland. Some have even threatened to move from Cleveland should the Skywalk be constructed.
My prediction is that there will be little or no difference in the foot traffic or commercial activity on the Square, yet the Skywalk will be faulted by some for having turned a once bursting-with-promise flow of pedestrians (the kind that existed in the 1950s) into a dead zone which can never be resurrected.
Dennis Kucinich: With Ed FitzGerald’s campaign for governor looking weaker by the day, Dennis Kucinich will attempt a “Last Hurrah” run for the Democratic nomination. This makes perfect sense since the old warrior lives to run and needs something to keep his leggy wife excited.
Also, his lack of concern for the state’s Democratic establishment (and its unwise, hasty backing of Fitz) enables him to buck them with glee. And, truth be told, a Kucinich candidacy is the only possible thing that could make the gubernatorial contest interesting, especially since – barring an Act of God – no one can beat Kasich.
Nina Turner: In her run for Ohio Secretary of State, Turner will become a national figure in the critical battle against GOP-led voter suppression. A dynamic speaker who is great on television, Turner appears to be toning down her preacher-like rhetoric a tad and complementing it with a more moderated, yet still impassioned, tone.
She won’t win but will emerge from the fray as the most dynamic Cleveland politician to come along since Mike White a quarter of a century ago, and the leading contender in 2017 to succeed her friend Frank Jackson as Cleveland mayor.
Pot Legislation: Just in case no one noticed, the heinous War on Drugs is going out with a whimper. Already, some of the draconian drug laws which have imprisoned hundreds of thousands of people – 50% of whom are in jail for marijuana-related offenses – are at last being rolled back.
And with 21 states already legalizing pot for medical purposes and Colorado and Washington legalizing it for recreational use, the floodgates have opened and there is really no turning the Weed Express back. There is simply too much money to be made from marijuana sales for states not to legalize the magical herb.
This fall there will be some sort of pot legislation on the Ohio ballot. Though highly unlikely, it may even pass. But if it doesn’t this year, it will certainly do so by no later than 2016, at which time marijuana – either for medicinal or recreational use – will be legal in Ohio and 75% of the country.
[Nina Turner photo via her website]
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. LarryDurstinATyahoo.com