美国国家公共电台 NPR Progressive, Or ... More Progressive? Ohio Democrats Choose Candidate For Governor

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STEVE INSKEEP, HOST:

Richard Cordray was expected to be unbeatable in tomorrow's Ohio Democratic gubernatorial primary. The former head of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau has high-profile name recognition and support from powerful people in his party. But the late entry into the race of Dennis Kucinich - former mayor, congressman¹, presidential candidate - has revealed friction² among Ohio Democrats³. From member station WKSU, M.L. Schultze reports.

UNIDENTIFIED PERSON #1: Richard Cordray.

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M.L. SCHULTZE, BYLINE⁴: Rich Cordray steps into the Laborers⁵ Local 574 hall in central Ohio. The hall is small - a dot of blue and a sea of red that is rural Ohio. But the meeting is good. About 50 people nod and clap as Cordray talks about government working for people, tuition-free community college, the charter school and payday lending scandals swirling⁶ around state Republicans. But the first question he's asked has nothing to do with any of that. Through much of his career, Rich Cordray had an A-plus rating from the NRA. What - Dan Giles wants to know - is he going to do about gun violence?

RICHARD CORDRAY: We have a problem of gun violence in our society. I think any thinking person recognizes that with the school shootings and the community shootings around the country. And we need to find practical steps that will reduce the gun violence and save lives.

SCHULTZE: Cordray supports the Second Amendment⁷ but also universal background checks and bans on bump stocks and high capacity magazines. Giles leaves the meeting undecided.

DAN GILES: I wanted to get something from the heart, and I didn't hear that.

SCHULTZE: Dennis Kucinich has been dogging Cordray on this issue for months, aided by a YouTube video of Cordray speaking to gun rights advocates in 2010 - a speech that called guns not just a constitutional right but a natural right. In contrast, Kucinich wants to ban assault-style weapons in a state that has loosened gun laws more than a dozen times.

UNIDENTIFIED PERSON #2: The multi-grain. Yeah. The seven grain.

DENNIS KUCINICH: Multi-grain. OK...

SCHULTZE: Kucinich stops by the West Side Market in Cleveland to pick up a loaf of vegan bread. A poll completed less than a week before election day shows that 41 percent of Democratic voters still have not made up their mind. Kucinich pulls a lapel pin with a red F from his pocket - his rating from the NRA.

KUCINICH: And I'm proud of it, and it represents the fact that I'm politically independent.

SCHULTZE: Guns are not his only difference with Cordray.

KUCINICH: On fracking, I think it has to be brought to an end. He does not. On legalizing marijuana, I think that it's long past the time that it be done. He does not. On the death penalty, I think it ought to be banned. He does not.

SCHULTZE: All of that aligns⁸ him with the Bernie Sanders-wing of the Democratic Party, but a number of Ohio Democratic insiders fear Kucinich would alienate⁹ the independent voters who are crucial for a Democratic win in November. Both candidates are progressive, says Sarah Poggione - a political scientist at Ohio University - meaning the biggest difference may be personality. Where Cordray is cerebral¹⁰ and detailed¹¹, Kucinich is...

SARAH POGGIONE: More fiery¹², a little bit less polished in some ways. So I don't know if I see this so much as a split on policy so much as a split on almost the personality of a campaign.

SCHULTZE: There are differences from 2016. Liberal vanguard Senator Elizabeth Warren is one of Cordray's biggest backers.

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ELIZABETH WARREN: Wall Street banks hate everything that Rich stands for.

SCHULTZE: Meanwhile, Kucinich has come under attack for his stint¹³ as a Fox News analyst¹⁴, his call for President Obama's impeachment¹⁵ and his visits with Syrian dictator Bashar al-Assad, which he says were part of his effort to achieve world peace. Political scientist Poggione says it's unclear how much any of that means to voters in a state struggling with an opioid crisis in a still uncertain economy. What's clear is that many voters are still looking for clues before Tuesday's election. For NPR News, I'm M.L. Schultze.

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