Democratic strategist John Lapp of Ralston-Lapp sees it differently. “Look, you have a Republican field of throwbacks; Kasich is easily identifiable as a (Newt) Gingrich throwback.”

He believes Ohio Democrats have the better bench now and in the future, making Ohio a reliable blue state for perhaps generations.

The country is at a particular moment in time in which people are becoming more comfortable with a protective – and inevitably bigger – government than with a smaller one, which breeds longevity for Democrats.

Yet with big-government love comes the fact that someone has to pay for it, meaning taxpayers.

So what strengths do Strickland and Kasich bring to their showdown?

An ordained minister, Strickland is non-ideological; he won traditional Democratic constituencies in northeast Ohio and the big cities but also did well in Ohio’s Appalachian region. His appeal seemed broad in 2006, but that could have resulted in part from the scandals unfolding within Taft's administration.

Kasich, on the other hand, has dual appeal: A son of working-class parents, he is very tight on fiscal matters and pretty conventionally Republican in rhetoric. Tremendously buoyant, he has a genuine empathy for working people and the insecurities afflicting industrial workers.

Republican Minority Leader John Boehner, R-Ohio, told the Trib that Kasich’s candidacy will instantly instigate a debate over how Ohio is losing people, losing industry and raising taxes and how Ohioans must reverse that process.

“John Kasich was a reformer long before it became popular,” Boehner said. “He understands what needs to be done to enact real change in Ohio.”

How this goes is anyone’s guess, says Rockman: “It will hinge a lot on whom voters blame for the bad economic tidings in the state.

“… At this point, I think Strickland is likely to have the edge, but we are a long way from the election.”