Chris Redfern is the chair of the State Democratic Party in Ohio. He talked to TAP's Ezra Klein about the revitalization of Democrats in Ohio and the competition for dollars with MoveOn.org.
Last time we were at a convention, Democrats in Ohio didn't hold a single statewide office.
That was 2004? We had a Supreme Court justice.
There's been a huge change. Now the governor, the lieutenant governor, the attorney general, the secretary of state, the state treasurer, and one of the senators are Democrats. What's behind it?
The governor, Ted Strickland. When you have incumbent governors, they tend to not invest in state party organizations because they view them as almost competitive in nature. They compete for volunteers, for activists, for money. If you ask any large state governor or party leader, you see there's a national tendency to not work as closely as they should with the party. Not so in Ohio. When Ted Strickland was elected, he invested time and energy into the party, so here we are. Preceding Ted Strickland, when I was elected chairman -- I'm from rural northwestern Ohio -- we built an 88-county organization, which gave us a chance to succeed in more counties. John Kerry won 16 counties. Ted Strickland won 72. So you do the math. When you invest in more counties, you not only have more chances to win those counties, but you may not lose as many as well.
In 2004, Democrats pumped money into Ohio. They'll do the same now. How will the two campaigns differ?
The state campaign manager for Barack Obama is a guy name Aaron Pickrell, who was Ted Strickland's political director. Decisions can't be made in places like Boston or D.C. or New York or Chicago. They have to be made by people who understand the importance of Ohio-based decisions. When it's coming from a consultant in Boston, it doesn't work that well. Their Ohio operation was run by someone in Boston.
The polls have tightened in Ohio. Why?
You and I are paying attention. Most aren't. You'll see the kind of attention placed on this race by Gov. Strickland and Sherrod Brown and our legislative leaders that you haven't seen in the past, and our numbers will rise.
What's the utility of a convention like this for you?
Great opportunity to build relationships, raise money, increase awareness. A dollar invested in a 527 like MoveOn.org is a dollar taken away from a state party organization, and it's actually detrimental to state party organizations. I have to urge contributors to invest in state parties rather than 527s. It's great to invest in a 527 if you want to see a commercial in July. It's largely ineffective if you want to get the message out. Our job is to make sure we win in September and October and early November, not to do some flashy news conference in July with some new ad.
--Ezra Klein
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