Calls for Strickland to drop out
With the Foley scandal still swirling as a backdrop in Washington, leading Ohio moral conservatives are beginning to call for Rep. Ted Strickland, D-Ohio, to withdraw from the 2006 Ohio gubernatorial race, in light of disclosures made concerning his 1998 campaign manager who in 1994 pleaded guilty to criminal misdemeanors involving sexual improprieties with minors.
As reported yesterday, Strickland employed as his 1998 campaign manager an individual who in 1994 pleaded guilty to exposing himself and masturbating in front of pre-teen girls at an Athens, Ohio, school. Even after being informed of the sexual misconduct offenses, Strickland allegedly took his campaign manager on a private trip to Italy to celebrate his 1998 re-election, leaving Mrs. Strickland at home in Kentucky.
Phil Burress, president of Citizens for Community Values in Cincinnati is calling for Strickland to withdraw from the Ohio gubernatorial race.
"Fair is fair," Burress told this writer. "If Nancy Pelosi and Harry Reid can call for Mark Foley and Speaker of the House Dennis Hastert to resign, then Ted Strickland should step down until all the questions are answered honestly and completely."
Burress went on to detail his questions:
When exactly did Strickland's 1998 campaign manager stop committing these sexual abuses? Why did Strickland not conduct due diligence before hiring this guy? Who expunged the court records and why? Did Strickland play a role in expunging the records and, if so, why?
What bothered Burress was the apparent double standard in the way the Democrats were handling the allegations against Strickland:
We need all the facts because this is hypocrisy in the first degree for the Democrats to call on Republicans to step down when issues of sexual impropriety with minors are raised and not apply the same standard to themselves.
John C. Willke, M.D., president of the Life Issues Institute, Inc. in Cincinnati joined in the call for Strickland to resign from the Ohio gubernatorial contest.
"This sounds more serious than the Foley problem," Willke said, "because it indicates a willingness on Strickland's part to associate with a person of these moral deficiencies, raising a profound question about Strickland's moral character."
Willke believes that Strickland should withdraw from the race immediately to answer questions about the matter "so the Ohio voters can once and for all know the truth." Willke noted that Strickland had misrepresented the circumstances until now.
"Strickland has been lying," Willke told this writer. "This is not some campaign lower-down, as Strickland made out when his challenger, Brian Flannery, brought out these charges during the Democratic primary. We know now that this was Strickland's campaign manager, a person of responsibility and trust in the campaign. How could Strickland allow a criminally convicted sex offender to occupy this role and not do something about it?"
Mount Vernon, Ohio, attorney Scott Pullins, whose Pullins Report blog was one of the first to cover sexual questions raised in the campaign regarding Strickland, was outspoken in calling for Strickland to withdraw.
"The question is what did Strickland know and when did he know it?" Pullins asked, repeating the famous question from the Watergate investigation that ultimately dogged President Nixon out of office. "Strickland is lying to the people of Ohio, and he should withdraw from this race."
Pullins wondered whether Strickland's experience as a former prison psychologist may have colored his vision:
I'm concerned that Strickland is a far-out, liberal former prison doctor who believes these folks can be rehabilitated. Would Strickland surround himself with convicted felons and those that would harm our children? Even worse, he might pardon some of these despicable individuals [as governor].
The attorney suggested that "Strickland might make Ohio a haven for sexual predators and other offenders who would prey on our citizens. Under Strickland, would we end up with a state where people would be afraid to leave their homes?"
Pullins doubted that the full story regarding Strickland's former campaign manager has come out yet.
What if there is more to this story. Has Strickland hired or associated with other people on his campaign or congressional staff who have a past history of sexual misconduct with minors? Has Strickland hidden any personal problems of this nature that he doesn't want the public to know about?
The Strickland campaign did not return a call asking for comment for this column.
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