Tales from the Trail

If there was any question that Democrats were in for a tough election year, go no further than Lee Fisher’s campaign flyer that’s been mailed out to Ohio voters.

“Washington is Working Against Ohio Families” it warns in large letters superimposed over a picture of dark storm clouds hovering over the U.S. Capitol.  On the flyer’s backside is the declaration: “Washington is broken and has let us down.”

As he tries to win the U.S. Senate seat being vacated by retiring Senator George Voinovich, Fisher’s campaign seems to be taking on the Democrats who control the White House and both chambers of the U.S. Congress.

But Fisher, the Ohio lieutenant governor, is a Democrat who supports a “clean energy economy,” “paygo” budgeting rules, healthcare reform and other hallmarks of the national Democratic Party.

But it seems the public mood is just too sour for him to associate himself with his fellow Democrats in power in Washington.

According to a recent Quinnipiac poll, Fisher leads Ohio Secretary of State Jennifer Brunner 33 percent-26 percent in the May 4 primary election for the Democratic nomination.

If Fisher wins, he’ll face Republican Rob Portman in the November election. Portman, a former congressman, may try to tar Fisher as another big-spending Democrat who will just make U.S. budget deficits even worse.

But Fisher will have a handy rebuttal:  before Portman left Washington in 2007, he served as budget director for George W. Bush,  who turned a string of budget surpluses into stubborn deficits that plagued his presidency.

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Photo credit: Reuters/Jason Reed (Protesters outside Capitol building during demonstration over healthcare reform)