As “Retread” Ted Strickland continues to receive scathing criticism for refusing to debate his primary opponent P.G. Sittenfeld, it is being reported that an internal memo from the Sittenfeld campaign shows that his attacks against Strickland are resonating with democratic primary voters.
The memo reports that once voters are educated about Strickland’s flip-flop on gun control, they are less likely to support him.
In case you missed it, Retread Ted’s flip-flop earned him several headlines:
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Sittenfeld calls Strickland switch on gun restrictions ‘misleading fiction’
- Strickland’s phony makeover on gun control: Darcy cartoon
You can read more about Sittenfeld’s memo, here:
Sittenfeld’s focus on guns: smart politics or losing strategy?
Cincinnati.com | Deirdre Sheesgreen
In his Senate campaign, Cincinnati City Councilman P.G. Sittenfeld has focused relentlessly and almost singularly on one subject: gun control, a hot-button topic that Sittenfeld sees as a way to break through in his uphill primary battle against former Gov. Ted Strickland.
Some Sittenfeld allies say it’s a politically compelling issue that could tilt the race in his favor — and that has already chipped away at Strickland’s electoral advantages. A private memo from Sittenfeld’s polling team, obtained by the Enquirer, says the candidate’s focus on curbing gun violence is the “single most compelling positive message of his campaign.”
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But he conceded that gun control has been a dominant theme for the city councilman, with Sittenfeld’s campaign blasting out a blizzard of gun-related policy proposals and hammering Strickland for his pro-gun rights positions. So far this year, Sittenfeld’s campaign has distributed more than 15 press releases on gun issues, and only four that don’t mention guns at all.
“It’s arguably the hottest issue in the country right now,” said Butland, noting that gun control has also come up repeatedly in the Democratic presidential race. In that contest, as in the Ohio Senate race, former Secretary of State Hilary Clinton has accused her rival, Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders, of being weak on gun control and unwilling to stand up to the National Rifle Association.
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The confidential memo from Sittenfeld’s pollsters offers more details. It says that once Democratic primary voters learn about Strickland’s A+ rating from the NRA and his votes against a ban on assault weapons, among other positions, they swing to Sittenfeld’s side.
“Our polling finds that Democratic primary voters are deeply disturbed to learn” about Strickland’s gun-rights record, the memo states. After voters learn “positive and negative information about both candidates and their positions on guns,” the memo says, Sittenfeld takes a 10 percentage-point lead in the race — winning 49 percent support to Strickland’s 39 percent.
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