Rob Portman received the endorsement of the United Mine Workers of America’s (UMWA) political arm last week. The group had previously endorsed Strickland, both in 2006 and 2010.
Losing the organization’s support kicked Retread Ted Strickland into action and yesterday he launched a damage control tour through Appalachia. During his tour Strickland admitted, “losing the coal endorsement hurt.”
Read more, from the Cincinnati Enquirer:
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The road trip comes after Strickland lost an important endorsement from the political arm of the United Mine Workers to Portman. COMPAC backed both Strickland’s runs for governor. In tandem with the visits, the Strickland campaign launched what it’s calling an Appalachian regional website Tuesday. But Portman’s camp called the visits "damage control."
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Republicans say voters in the area that supported Strickland’s congressional and gubernatorial runs are now disappointed in Strickland’s stances on guns, same-sex marriage and coal workers. Off-hand comments from presumptive Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton, whom Strickland supports, have coal workers upset with Strickland by association. When talking about renewable energy plans on the campaign trail, several publications reported that Clinton remarked, "I’m the only candidate which has a policy about how to bring economic opportunity using clean renewable energy as the key into coal country. Because we’re going to put a lot of coal miners and coal companies out of business, right?"
The Ohio Coal Association hasn’t forgiven Clinton for those remarks.
“Unless Ted Strickland is coming to coal country to apologize for his anti-coal work in Washington, or his support for Hillary Clinton, who brags about putting more coal miners out of work, coal families already know exactly where he stands on supporting their livelihood,” said association president Christian Palich in a statement.
Strickland admits that losing the coal endorsement hurt, but believes workers are mostly concerned about their pensions.
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