(CNN) – The first line of Ohio Gov. Ted Strickland's campaign biography boasts the Democratic governor is "the son of a steelworker" who "never imagined he'd be able to go to college."
Indeed, Strickland's humble upbringing is just the type campaigns love to highlight, and never more so during an economic climate that still hasn't shown signs for recovery for many Ohioans.
But the campaign of Strickland's Republican opponent -former U.S. Rep. John Kasich – is causing a stir for attacking the same simple origins Strickland celebrates.
Kasich spokesman Rob Nichols said in a statement Tuesday Strickland is a poor manager of Ohio's cities because the Democrat was raised "in a chicken shack on Duck Run."
Nichols' statement came after Strickland's running mate, Yvette Brown, said in a recent speech, "Ted didn't grow up in city, but he fights for our cities every day."
"Not until Ted Strickland feared needing their votes did he give urban Ohioans a second thought. Having grown up in a chicken shack on Duck Run, he has all but ignored our cities' economies and their workers," Nichols said in the statement responding to Brown's speech.
Strickland's campaign seized on the slap at Strickland's upbringing, saying, "Only the Congressman from Wall Street would be so out of touch as to insult Ted's humble upbringing."
"While Congressman Kasich may have spent a lot of time in boardrooms at Lehman Brothers and rubbing elbows with lobbyists at cocktail parties in Washington, Ohioans are looking for a Governor who will represent their values-and clearly that is not John Kasich," spokesman Lis Smith said.
Nichols has since said he did not mean his comments as an insult, but Strickland's campaign has organized a conference call later Wednesday with "representatives from rural and Appalachian Ohio" to take aim at the comments.
UPDATE: Democratic National Committee Chairman Tim Kaine, speaking in Cleveland Wednesday, also took a hit at the comments.
“I noticed that the other campaign yesterday ridiculed him for ‘growing up in a chicken shack on Duck Run Ohio,’” said Kaine. “I’m don’t know why they though that’s a bad thing, but maybe that’s how it looks from the perspective of a Lehman Brothers consultant.”
From CNN Politics
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Kasich is just a typical Republican – he has no class, no solutions, no shame, and no brains. It's so much easier for these dolts to resort to gutter-level attacks than to intelligently discuss issues that really matter...
Republicans...the gift that keeps on giving......
All their wealth and education, and this is all Republicans can come up with. But then the Republican President Ronald Reagan and the Republicans controlling both houses on Jan 19 1982 did come up with the worse contradiction of all government agencies. The MMS which regulates and inspects the same companies it collects Royalties from. Maybe that is how the rig BP was operating passed the inspection before the explosion. And just how many more rigs operated by other oil and gas companies that passed the inspection are actually working time bombs.
does anyone care about republicans any more? really? i mean, come on, the ONLY place they are strong are in ruby red kookoo states, and not in main stream. they know it and are flinging mud! they are even doing this against their own. they are done and cant accept that fact
This is no surprise whatsoever to me. Just the usual dumbcluck Republican stuff since it has become the party of America's ignorant in the last decades.
Good luck with that hail mary desperation attack. I'm sorry did I forget the GOP doesn't like the "little people" that were not raised with gold spoons that have diamond handles. How many Mc Houses do I have I forget ask my wife.
the usual GOP scumbag... no surprise.
@Augsbee – I HOPE YOU ARE BEING SARCASTIC!!!???
This is 'typical' of the PUGS – say something that you really mean and then take it back in a fake apology!!! Their messages are for their base only so others should not even waste their time getting angry over it.... a bunch of LOSERS!!!
Republicans always like big business and the wealthy. Don't believe their posturing (re: Palin etc). Just look at Barton. Kasich is just another Oil Rig Hugger. Don't care about the poor and struggling.
Hmmmmm I always thought Americans admired people who came from humble origins and worked their way up to being successful. Apparently John Kasich thinks that everyone was born into money.
Yes, his humble upbringing does not qualify him for GOP, that's why he is a Dem. I'd trust somebody who understands hardship and limited means to represent me. After all, my limited means and humble upbringing do not qualify me to join the GOP either!
GOP is the party of the "rich white mainstream". It does not have space for the annoying poor or minorities. Keep it "pure".
Kasich......an out of touch elitist who needs his arse kicked.
Two kinds of repugs. Those with no ideas and those with bad ideas.
And what exactly is the difference between the Democrats and the Republicans?
Both represent party, wall Street, lobbyists, and big business before the people.
Stop voting for the party and start voting independently.
Campaigns use to be about issues. Now it appears it's more about who can insult the other guy better. This is where are politics have taken us. "Vote for me because the other guy is not qualified". Isn't it a pity....
I am so sick and tired of politicians saying what ever they really feel, and then being able to take it back with some lame @zz apology! I might respect these idiots just a tiny bit if they actually stood by what they already said! We KNOW they meant it! Just Kidding is something second graders say! Man or Woman UP people, you are truly pathetic!
Did you expect anything better from a republican? Typical!!!!!!!!!!
Usually this type of insult name calling is the rhelm of 5th and 6th graders. Hmmm is that who this candidate is or who he's talking to?
This was an amazingly tone-deaf move by Nichols.
Like many in the midwest, we Ohioans admire people who come from humble beginnings and rise to prominence. If the Republicans want to defeat Strickland, they're not going to do it by attacking his background. As it is, Kasich is already seen by many as the ultimate insider, and comments such as these will only emphasize that image.
Kasich's best move it to try and save face by firing Nichiols. And the Republicans are already wasting their time by trying to seek votes in the cities and inner-ring suburbs. The Democrats own those, at least in Cleveland and Columbus. If the Republicans stand a chance of regaining the Ohio governorship (increasingly unlikely), they need to focus their resources in areas they can win: exhurbs, rural areas, and southwestern Ohio.
Strickland probably shouldn't insult Lehman Bros., lobbyists or other Wall St. types, they make up a lot of the President's administration and he's going to have to deal with them if he wins.
"Anything to deflect from the mess that Ohio is under Strickland..."
Nice spin. If Strickland has been a failure then speak to his specific failures. Personal attacks are juvenile and pointless.
Kasich is unavailable for comment. He's at a luncheon on board Tony Hayward's yacht.
Republicas stand and fight for corporations.....
The Democratic Party stands and fights for the working men and women....
VOTE DEM in 2010!!!!!
Here we go again with these Republican clowns. This is how they always behave. It is amazing we still fall for this. Are we really this dumb that we will fall for Kasich? Well, yes, we fall for the Repulicans slime all the time.
regadless of the tasteless statement, Strickland is still a do-nothing, ineffective idiot.