Fisher seeks trade

BY JULIE CARR SMYTH
WIRE SERVICE CORRESPONDENT

COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) – When Ohio Gov. Ted Strickland tapped his lieutenant, Lee Fisher, to lead the administration's first trade mission in July, it was unusual.
For 30 years, Ohio governors have headed their own delegations in search of international business and investment in the state. Certainly state development directors, like Fisher and his predecessor, Lt. Gov. Bruce Johnson, have also made the trips, but rarely before a governor paved the way.
The same is the case in other states, whether it be Washington Gov. Christine Gregoire's trip to three continents last fall or California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's planned trip to India next month. With few exceptions, the governor generally takes the lead.
Issues both practical and political may help explain Strickland's decision to buck that tradition.
For one thing, Strickland is Ohio's first Democratic governor in 16 years. He pushed the limits of legislative power on his first day in office, with a retroactive veto that was ultimately overturned, and has gone on to issue several precedent-challenging executive orders. His spokesman, Keith Dailey, said there has been much to do at home. "He decided early on in the administration that he wanted to focus on Ohio this first year," Dailey said.
" So he decided to not personally lead a trade mission in his first year as governor - but it's something he will certainly do in the future."
Fisher's four-day trip to Russia included a visit to the Magnitogorsk Iron & Steel Works, about three hours southeast of Moscow, and meetings with the company's executives.
The company that owns the steel works was reported as interested in opening a mill in Scioto County, near the Ohio River. The mill would melt steel slabs to be customized for automakers and would create 1,000 jobs. It helps that Fisher happens to have a passion for economic development. According to Ned Hill, vice president for economic development at Cleveland State University, Fisher was seeking information on how to fix Ohio's ailing economy well before he and Strickland won November's election. "It's clear he wants to make a difference," Hill said of Fisher. "The political difference in Ohio is that the (House) Speaker clearly wants to change the reality of the economy, the president of the Senate wants to change that reality, and so do the lieutenant governor and the governor. The Kumbayah's going to end eventually, but for now Fisher is reaching out without even thinking about party." As a two-time statewide officeholder who is 10 years Strickland's junior, Fisher also has an interest in keeping his profile high.
While many assume the 66-yearold Strickland will run for re-election in 2010, riding easily back into office on his current wave of popularity, it isn't inevitable. Dailey said what Strickland will do in 2010 "is not even something he's contemplated at this point."
One thing Strickland has pondered, however, is whether he would become a 2008 running mate to one of the Democratic presidential contenders. The answer is no.
" Let me put it to you this way: If the governor is drafted he will not run, if he is nominated he will not accept, and if he is elected he will not serve," Dailey said.
Even if Strickland seeks and wins a second term, Fisher would not be the first No. 2 to translate his position into higher office after that. In fact, Ohio's last Democratic lieutenant governor, Dick Celeste, did just that. Lucas McMillan, a University of South Carolina graduate student who is studying state trade missions, said there is yet another reason why a governor might choose not to lead his own trade mission: The trips can be political hot potatoes. A journey that's promoted and unsuccessful is a boondoggle. An exploratory trip kept under wraps is a secret taxpayer-funded jaunt.
" In order to avoid criticism, do you only go on a mission when you know the deal has a 99 percent chance of happening? Then you're criticized for not needing to go," he said. "Of course, if a governor or lieutenant governor is flying off to Germany for five days and not telling anybody, that's not what we tend to think of as open government. States are in a hard place."
He said it can take years to see results from an international investment trip, making it an easy target of an administration's critics. Yet the missions are becoming an expected element of any state's economic development strategy, he said.
Since then-North Carolina Gov. Luther Hodges led the first gubernatorial trade mission in 1959, the number of international offices or representatives maintained by the 50 states has risen to 230 spread over 30 countries.
In 2002, the National Governors Association told governors they are viewed overseas as important dignitaries - regardless of the size or relative economic power of their states. Whether that status carries over to a lieutenant governor, or the many other state cabinet officials around the country that make trade missions, is questionable.
" They probably don't know what to think of the lieutenant governor," McMillan said. "It's kind of an odd position that doesn't have a formal long job description."
Hill said that in Ohio the governor's No. 2 has always held a cabinet position, something that isn't the case in many other states. He said any lieutenant governor with the right approach can take advantage of the position to make international deals.
" He gets to come in and say I'm the second most powerful person in the state, say, let's do a deal," he said. "As long as you've got that type of personality, I think it works."

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