Beating ColumbusGuy to the Punch

In a heavily watched special Congressional election in Cincinnati, Republican Jean Schmidt held on to defeat Democrat Paul Hackett, 52% to 48%. Let's ignore what everyone else is saying--I bet ColumbusGuy can tell us the true meaning of the outcome. After all, this used to be a heavily Republican seat, and Hackett was an Iraqi war veteran who strongly criticized Bush. Furthermore, a lot of money came in from outside.

So the Republican wins--net gain or loss for both parties: Zero. But what did it really mean?

Columbus Guy says: Sorry. You'll need CincinnatiGuy for that one, or maybe OhioGuy. I heard one of the commercials broadcast for the guy and it played Bush entirely sympathetically, with no hint of disagreement. It was all rah-rah for the troops, and I'm a troop.

Usually you're pretty pragmatic, LAGuy, with pithy sayings such as the best way to win elections is to win them, not to lose them today in the hope it sets you up real good for later.

The implicit question is whether this indicates overall Republican weakness. Maybe, but I have to think that when Hillary is running moderate and an Iraq war veteran is running as an Iraq war veteran, that's more or less a sign that the values Republicans hold close are still appealing to the folks.

The more interesting question is the governor's race, with Democrat Ted Strickland. He'll get lots of Hillary cash and frankly he stands a pretty good shot. Ohio Republicans, despite dominating everything since 1994, are a disgusting bunch. The only true Republican in the group is Ken Blackwell, and as far as the state party is concerned, he may as well not exist. Ohio could very well be the chink in the national Republican's armor.