toledoblade.com --

Ohio Gov. Ted Strickland praised Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama last night and compared the senator's vision for America to that of President Franklin Delano Roosevelt by likening the difficulties faced by the nation in the 1930s to those of today.

"The American people have sobered up, and I believe Barack Obama provides us an opportunity to really change the direction of this country and to restore hope," Mr. Strickland said during a fund-raiser dinner at the SeaGate Convention Centre downtown.

The governor criticized the presidency of George W. Bush.

"We have gone from a time when jobs were being created and unemployment was going down, when more of our people were being lifted out of poverty, when health care was being made available to more of our people, especially our children," he said. "We are finding that more of our people are losing their jobs and losing their health care, and losing their pensions and too many Ohioans and Americans are losing hope."

Mr. Strickland told the crowd of more than 350 people that he recently had read President Roosevelt's first inaugural address - a speech made famous by the phrase: "The only thing we have to fear is fear itself."

"You look at this inaugural address and it could have been written yesterday because, as you know, FDR came to the office of the presidency at a time when our country was suffering, people were losing homes, credit was short, bankruptcies were all over the place, and it was a dark time," he said before quoting passages from the speech.

"FDR told the truth but also gave people hope, and FDR provided the leadership as I believe Barack Obama will provide leadership to get us out of the condition we are in and to move us forward," Mr. Strickland said.

The governor proclaimed: "Those are the words of FDR in 1933. They ought to be the words of our national leaders today in 2008. We must put our people to work, we must consider what is right for the common good of all of us, and I am convinced Barack Obama is the man to do that."

Last night's $150-a-plate dinner, which attracted many Lucas County Democratic elected officials, was peppered with calls to action to convince voters over the next three weeks that Senator Obama is better for America than his Republican rival, John McCain.

The McCain campaign said recently it would step up attacks on the Obama campaign.

Mr. Strickland said the people of Ohio seem "to be opening their hearts and minds to Barack Obama and Joe Biden" and should ignore "false accusations and the smears" launched by the McCain camp.

Oregon Mayor Marge Brown said Mr. Strickland was right to point out that the country needs the kind of change proposed by President Roosevelt.

"The governor was very much on point," she said. "We need a change, we need to look at the people and work for the people."

Ron Rothenbuhler, chairman of the Lucas County Democratic Party, said Senator Obama would reverse years of ignoring the middle class.

"The shape of the country since the last depression is almost there, and we are suffering from the loss of jobs, the loss of health care, and from what's happened on Wall Street," Mr. Rothenbuhler said. "It's time to recognize the bottom 95 percent and not just the top 5 percent."

U.S. Rep. Marcy Kaptur (D., Toledo) said the next president must direct the nation back toward prosperity.

"The next president better be more effective on the economy and foreign policy, and I don't care what stripe they identify with," Miss Kaptur said, referring to how moderate or liberal the next Democratic president would be.

State Treasurer Richard Cordray, a candidate for attorney general running against Republican Mike Crites, said this presidential election ranks more important than others in the nation's history.

Mr. Cordray compared the presidential campaign to elect Mr. Obama to that of John F. Kennedy in 1960.

He said Democrats have endeavored to "break down an age-old barrier in the election - the barrier of race" much as President Kennedy's supporters faced the challenge of electing the first Roman Catholic to the White House. "We barely won that election," Mr. Cordray said. "When we won it, we knocked down that barrier, we trampled that barrier."

After his remarks, Governor Strickland said he agreed with President Roosevelt's Jan. 11, 1944, State of the Union message, in which he spoke of the need for a second Bill of Rights under which everyone has the right to a "useful and remunerative job."

"I think it ought to be a right of citizenship," he said. "If you are a citizen in this country you should [also] have access to the health care you need."

The governor said the politics of health care has shifted in recent years.

"When it comes to something like health care for everyone who needs it, I don't think that's a left position any more," he said. "At one time, it may have been considered such, but I think there has been a major shift in the thinking about that, especially among the business community."

Contact Ignazio Messina at:
imessina@theblade.com
or 419-724-6171.

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