You might be wondering why it’s been so long since I last entered something in to this blog. That’s because I’ve decided to only make blog entries when Ted Strickland makes a public appearance. And not just a campaign stop to some rural county where he’s overrun by Ken Blackwell signs, but an appearance on a TV or radio show would do as well. Maybe ONN’s morning show, where he was called out on his liberal voting record by someone who worked for public broadcasting. Hell, even a commercial here or there where he claims to share your values and then votes against the Pledge of Allegiance would be nice. Anything to let us know the man who wants to be our next Governor is actually still alive.

There are, of course, several theories behind the secret world of Hiding Ted (not to be confused with Drinking Ted, the Senior Senator for Massachusetts). Perhaps he thinks this is the 19^th century, when candidates for public office believed campaigning, making public appearances, and leaving the house- er, I mean, chicken shack- was beneath them. Maybe Ted, like other Democrat office hopefuls around the country, is banking on the fact that the President is unpopular and this must be a Democrat year. I hear San Fran Nan is already picking out new curtains for the Speaker’s office. After all, a party can lose only so many elections in a row before their luck changes, right? Just keep in mind the last political party to base their entire platform on the opposition to a single person folded in 1856.

Or maybe Hiding Ted is simply following in the footsteps of other Democrat gubernatorial candidates. Four years ago another Democrat named Ted ran for the governorship of another state beginning with the letter O. He also spent that summer doing nothing to the extent that a well-known liberal weekly tabloid asked “Where’s Ted?” on the cover. He very-nearly blew a twenty point lead over a candidate who made abortion the cornerstone of his campaign. His razor-thin victory was the closest race in Oregon political history. Keep in mind, this is a state about as blue as the ocean that borders it to the west. Any ordinary bleeding-heart (or ticking-heart, for that matter) liberal Democrat would have clobbered Kevin Mannix if they simply went to Pioneer Courthouse Square a couple of times. If Hiding Ted thinks he can capture Losing Ted’s fortune in a 50-50 state, he will prove himself to be sadly mistaken- and out of work. So how about it Ted, why don’t you come outside for a while? Ohio’s pretty nice this time of year.