Gov. Ted Strickland and his probable Republican opponent next year, former Congressman John Kasich, should memorize that line. If the present is a guide, neither seems serious enough about solving Ohio's problems to warrant the job.

But there may be someone who is.

The budget crisis has exposed Strickland's weakness as a leader. The crisis could have been solved long ago had the governor not foreclosed his options, including an obvious one used by the last four governors, three of them Republicans: tax increases.

A temporary one-cent-on-the-dollar increase in the state sales tax would raise $1.2 billion a year. Food and medicine are exempt from the sales tax, a hedge against disproportionately hurting the poor. Would you really notice that extra penny? And even if you did, wouldn't you pay it to help keep low-income children, the elderly and disabled from being kicked to the curb?

Another option Strickland ruled out was deferring the final 4.2 percent phase-in of the five-year, 21 percent state income-tax reduction enacted in 2005. Delaying it would generate $900 million over the biennium.

By predicting that a tax increase would give Republicans fodder for campaign attacks, Strickland tacitly admitted that he is worried about the impact of a tax increase on his re-election chances. It is true that there is no guarantee that even one legislative Republican would support a tax increase.

But that option isn't even on the table. And it is worth noting that a Republican governor and GOP-controlled legislature had the courage to enact a temporary one-penny sales-tax hike to get through a budget crisis early this decade.

By eschewing a tax increase and ruling out further cuts, Strickland had little choice but to turn to electronic slot machines at the seven horse-racing tracks. The former Methodist minister will have to live with the legacy of being the governor who legalized gambling in Ohio without a vote of the people, bringing with it the attendant ills: greed, scandal, crime and addiction.

In the end, that and the devastating cuts he already has made -- and may yet have to make if revenues don't come in as planned -- will be more politically damaging for him than a tax increase.

If you're looking for answers from Kasich on how he might lead the state through a budget crisis, don't bother.

"I'm not messing in that," he told reporters after a recent speech at the City Club in Cleveland.

It is smart politics for Kasich to steer clear of the budget crisis. He doesn't have to govern yet. But as Ohio's would-be chief executive in years that portend continued financial upheaval, Kasich has an obligation to tell voters how he would handle the state budget.

Does he support racetrack slots and other forms of legalized gambling? Just what would he cut to "skinny down" state government? Under what conditions would he consider a tax increase?

Instead of answers, Kasich offers an unrealistic plan to gradually eliminate the state income tax, which accounts for 34 percent of the state's revenue. Without that funding, how will schools remain open and indigent children get help? A leader would have answers.

There is a proven leader to fill the void. Now 72, Republican George V. Voinovich is retiring from the Senate next year, though he says he has more years to give to public service.

When he was governor from 1991-99, Voinovich piloted the state through budget crises the right way: He painstakingly convinced the public what needed to be done, brought that pressure to bear on legislative leaders, cut the budget to the bone and raised the necessary revenues the honest way.

If Voinovich deferred retirement to commit to just one term as governor, Ohioans would have a viable third option: A leader free from re-election pressures with the experience and the guts to get Ohio through perilous times.

Joe Hallett is senior editor at The Dispatch.

jhallett@dispatch.com