Ohio gubernatorial candidate Richard Cordray[1] thought he could lay claim to being the champion of the left, having run President Obama’s Wall Street[2] cop agency and led a prominent battle to constrain President Trump.
But his rivals have found room to maneuver to his left, particularly on issues like marijuana and gun rights. And voters say he’s proving less than electric on the campaign trail.
Mr. Cordray[3] says being governor is more about the virtue of the good stewardship that he has displayed over the course of his career of public service than it is about being a flashy showman who promises the moon.
“People can propose anything they want to propose, but if they have no real plan for accomplishing it, it won’t get us anywhere,” Mr. Cordray[4] said in a recent debate. “I like to get things done.”
He’s amassed a long record as state treasurer and attorney general, but gained national prominence after Mr. Obama named him to lead the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. The brainchild of now-Sen. Elizabeth Warren[5], the independent agency has the power to investigate and punish Wall Street[6], and Mr. Cordray[7] flexed those powers freely.
When he quit last year he also tried to lock in his own replacement, hoping to delay Mr. Trump’s chance to control the agency. The move made him a hero to many liberals, but wasn’t particularly effective, with the president winning a legal battle and installing his own man.
It remains to be seen whether those credentials will cut it for party activists who find the 58-year-old’s monotone delivery dull and question whether he will be a true liberal warrior.
“The view of Richard Cordray[8]
