Strickland is dangerous though; he knows how to talk like a good ol' boy, and has a strong base in conservative Southern Ohio. But in reality he's a wholly-owned puppet of Big Unions.
Like the Sinkmeister himself, Strickland has figured out the key to foolin' the bubbas and getting re-elected. Very true. That is why Strickland would beat Betty or Jim. Blackwell can hang in the conservative areas AND pick up enough black vote to cancel out any slippage in the good old boy vote. Or atleast he has a shot to do that.