Obama, At Tri-C, Makes His Case For Four More Years

When Barack Obama entered the gym of Cuyahoga County Community College Metro Campus today, the audience — some wearing “Team Obama” T-shirts, others proudly sporting the iconic Shepard Fairey “Hope” art across their chest — got on their feet.

“There is one place where I stand in complete agreement with my opponent: this election is about our economic future,” the president told the crowd.

Obama’s Cleveland speech made up half of a dramatic day for Ohio and the presidential election. His appearance here, and Republican challenger Mitt Romney’s similar speech in Cincinnati, underscored how crucial the state will be in the November election.

As free-market advocate Romney increasingly pressures recession-burdened Obama on the economic front, the president has shied away from healthcare and zeroed in on his business plan.

Obama portrayed the dueling campaigns as offering “two very different visions.” He likened Romney’s plans to the Bush era, arguing that Romney would cut taxes by trillions and strip the government down to national security and a few other basic functions. He said skeptics should vote for Romney if they want to support the policies of the last decade.

“This is their vision; there is nothing new,” Obama said. “Just what Bill Clinton has called, ‘The same ideas they tried before, except on steroids.’”

Positioning himself as an advocate of creating middle class jobs, the president promised to invest in clean energy and revitalize the educational system with more teachers. Obama tied education to the economy by underlining the importance of science and innovation.

The president also defended his incumbent track record. He asserted that 4 million jobs have been created in the last 27 months, under his watch, more than in the seven years before the unemployment crisis. He also appealed to supporters of manufacturing, a classic move for politicians rallying in the Rust Belt, claiming that this is the strongest period for manufacturing job growth since 1995.

“I believe that you can’t bring down the debt without a strong and growing economy,” Obama said. “I believe you can’t have a strong and growing economy without a strong, growing middle class.”

But as Obama contrasted himself from Romney — from his approach to the economy to his threatening political ads — Romney was addressing the crowd in Cincinnati. Romney similarly focused on the economy, but indicated he would limit the size of government. You can read about Romney’s appearance downstate here.

Cleveland Magazine Politics debuts

I've started a new blog, Cleveland Magazine Politics. Through the fall, I'll report on presidential candidates' visits to Cleveland and look at Ohio's role in the national election, keep you updated on Cleveland's transforming local politics, and let you know whether our past problems with our voting system have been fixed. I'll report from political events, let you know my thoughts on the latest news, and provide insight about our city's political personalities.

Fannie Lewis

Today, we learned 12 candidates are running to replace Fannie Lewis on Cleveland city council this fall. The wide-open race shows how hard it will be to succeed her, and how Lewis herself made the task even harder.

I first met Lewis at a meeting in city council’s huge, ornate chamber. She sat next to a fellow reporter and complained about then-mayor Mike White’s habit of outsourcing legal work to law firms with a sly infidelity metaphor: “When you spend more money outside your home than in your own home, you know what that’s called, don’t you?”

Some councilpeople’s words were like fog, clouding your vision, leaving you in the dark. Lewis’ words were like lightning, striking and illuminating the most prominent points, crackling with conflict. Her one-liners were so good, an editor and I once broke the rule that a story shouldn’t start with a quote, because she captured the atmosphere of intimidation ex-White lieutenants Bill Patmon and Jeff Johnson once created: striking at his critics like raving wolves, she said.

Not everyone liked dealing with Lewis, though few would admit it. She was eccentric and unpredictable, with a sometimes-fuzzy memory. A tough negotiator, she always tried to get more for her constituents from companies wanting to come to her ward. Some businesspeople probably still don’t like her signature ordinance, the Fannie Lewis Law, which requires major city contractors to have a workforce of at least 20 percent Clevelanders.

But she got results. Chester Avenue is lined with bright new houses, the fruits of her labor. Hough, though still poor, no longer merits its bad reputation from the 1966 riots. And she’s not done. Several councilmembers say that on her deathbed, Lewis named former opponent Stephanie Howse her successor. Ward leaders say Lewis wrote a letter insisting she’d name no one. Ward 7 voters have to sort it out. Even in death, all of Hough turns on her will.

McMickle jumps in

Another familiar name has jumped into the race to succeed Stephanie Tubbs Jones in Congress: Rev. Marvin McMickle, pastor of Antioch Baptist Church. McMickle ran for this seat in 1998, losing to Tubbs Jones, and ran for U.S. Senate in 2000. Yesterday, I called Marcia Fudge (see post below) the front-runner for the job, and she probably still is, but McMickle is also a strong, well-known candidate.

Click here to see our piece about McMickle in our Influentials issue this April. We've also written about two of the other candidates: Jeff Johnson, in our 35th anniversary issue this December, and Bill Patmon, in our coverage of the 2005 mayor's race (click here and scroll down).

Overheard in Southern Ohio

A report from the road by an out-of-state friend driving to Cleveland:

The fry cook says to the manager, "He picked a woman."

The manager responds: "Do I want a woman as a vice president or a black man as president? I think I want a black man."

"Not to mention I don't want McCain."

"Not to mention she was mayor of a small town a few years ago."

"Not to mention I don't want four more years of Bush."

Then the cashier turns to the lone customer and says "Not to mention, I forgot to give you your 63 cents change."

This is at a McDonalds in Warren County.

My friend's conclusion: Ohio really is a swing state. (By the way, check out this month's feature on the election to see how we might do as a swing state.)

Stephanie Tubbs Jones

U.S. Rep. Stephanie Tubbs Jones died at Huron Hospital after suffering a brain aneurysm Tuesday night. She was a Cleveland icon, and a state icon as the first black woman to represent Ohio in Congress.

Cleveland Magazine ran a lengthy feature on Tubbs Jones in 1993 as she was still a rising political power and named her one of the 30 people who defined Cleveland in 2002.