EDITORIAL

Lordstown resulted from a failure on Brown’s part, with no similar critique of Ohio’s junior Republican senator. But then again, Portman isn’t considering a presidential run in 2020, and Brown is.

So we ask if the president will ever employ more-effective tools to make good on his many extraordinary but incredible promises. Bullying, finger-pointing and deflection are wearing thin, especially when the president’s targets are usually doing much more than he is to actually try to deliver the goods.

Though a Trump transformation to statesman is dubious, it is time for the president’s backers to wise up and demand viable strategies for turning his assertions into accomplishments.

The much-ballyhooed Republican tax cut enacted late last year was not enough to keep GM in Lordstown. And the tariffs the president imposed in a trade war that he has yet to win — despite boasting it would be easy — have clearly backfired.

The Cruze may have already left the barn in Lordstown, but GM is not the only automotive company with a significant presence in Ohio. Honda and Jeep models are assembled here, too. And medium- and heavy-duty trucks and buses are built in Ohio for Ford, Navistar and Kenworth. In fact, a 2016 Ohio Development Services Agency report cited nearly 95,000 Ohioans working in the automotive and related industries.

Awareness is also especially keen in Ohio — and in central Ohio with the federalgrant-backed Smart Columbus initiative in particular — that transportation is evolving and must find new avenues to meet the changing needs of consumers and business.

It would be wonderful if GM’s Lordstown plant can be saved or repurposed. The Mahoning Valley certainly needs some hope for its eager workforce.

It is even more critical for Ohio’s government and corporate leaders — since we can’t count on help from the White House — to work with other automotive-related corporations having an Ohio presence to develop effective game plans for strengthening the state’s role in supporting transportation systems of the future.

Empty promises from the president won’t get us there.