Gov. Ted Strickland and Lt. Gov. Lee Fisher were feeling their Democratic oats at Saturday's organizational meeting of the Clinton campaign in Columbus.

Both officials sniped at Fox News' right-leaning commentators, with Fisher quipping that Strickland turned Ohio blue, will help turn America blue, and "more importantly…will turn Fox Television very blue."

Strickland's assessment of President Bush was blunt.

"We've got a president right now that I believe, and I believe you may believe, is the worst president this country" has ever had.

He reiterated his belief about Ohio's importance in picking the Democratic nominee.

"The great state of Ohio, not Iowa," he said, stopping midsentence as the crowd laughed, "not even New Hampshire, not Michigan or Nevada or South Carolina -- they're just playing around the edges when they play in those states. With the exception of Michigan, not one of those states is representative of America. But Ohio is."

Strickland got in hot water with the Clinton campaign earlier when he questioned the importance placed on the Iowa caucuses.

-- Jim Siegel jsiegel@dispatch.com