We have had a Democratic Governor for all of 9 days now and already he has done more progress than Taft ever did:

Gov. Ted Strickland signed his second executive order today, creating an energy adviser to coordinate the state’s efforts to create jobs through fuel-saving initiatives.

“One of the core principles of my Turnaround Ohio plan is to invest in Ohio’s strengths,” Strickland said in a prepared statement. “Clearly, energy production is one of those strengths. I am convinced that we can create thousands of good-paying jobs by encouraging next-generation energy production in Ohio including ethanol, clean coal, wind and solar.”

Strickland’s first executive order — signed Jan. 8 on his first day as governor — banned gifts worth more than $20 for state employees.

Soy is a major crop here and the fuel initiative is defiantly a great idea. We also desperately need new jobs in Ohio (something we lost a lot of under Taft).

The banning of gifts is one of those “had to be done” items. Taft was the only governor in the history of Ohio to be convicted of a crime while in office. His crime was accepting gifts and not reporting them. Strickland has a plate full to clean up the corruption left behind by Taft and his cronies, but he is surely the man to get it done.