There is a long standing belief in the political world that as Ohio votes so does America. Over the last 11 presidential elections, the old cliché has held fast with the eventual president winning Ohio each time. In 2012, the state is once again expected to be at the center of president politics, making the 2010 Ohio gubernatorial election the first skirmish in the Republican attempt to unseat President Obama.
How the election plays out has huge ramifications for who becomes our next president since whoever holds the Ohio governor’s mansion in 2012 will have a distinct advantage in delivering the state to their respective candidate.
Everyone expects a vicious battle between Democratic incumbent Ted Strickland and the Republican challenger John Kasich. Even with a Republican victory in the gubernatorial race, however, the Party won’t be unified going into the 2012 presidential election due to the leadership’s willingness to shun Ohio’s conservative voters.
Longtime Party Chairman Bob Bennett was despised by conservatives in Ohio for running luke-warm Republicans at the expense of more conservative challengers. He was known for championing anti-gun, pro-abortion, big government candidates for flagship seats like Governor and Attorney General.
The same machine also helped put Mike DeWine, an endorsee of the Brady Coalition to Stop Gun Violence, in the United States Senate.
When DeWine lost his reelection bid in 2006, most conservatives thought he would retire from public service. The subsequent retirement of Party Chairman Bennett left many conservatives with optimism over the future of the ORP. Their departure gave Ohio conservative Republicans hope that things would finally change.
Unfortunately, any hope of reform was dashed when ORP leadership paved the way for Mike DeWine to be the nominee for Ohio Attorney General. The move sparked near hysteria among the conservative wing off the Party, and set in motion a series of angry public protests over the backroom deals used to fast track DeWine’s endorsement. To clear the way for DeWine, the ORP forced Dave Yost out of the AG race and forced him run for State Auditor.
Ohio’s pro-life and pro-gun groups fully supported Yost for AG due to his conservative values and strong qualifications based on his background as a no nonsense County Prosecutor.
Adding to conservative angst is that State Rep. Seth Morgan, a well qualified Auditor candidate due to his background as a certified public accountant, was already in the race and is the only other strong conservative on the ORP statewide ticket.
The way conservative Republicans see it, another back room deal by the Ohio Republican leadership forced them into a no win situation. Either they can support leftist candidates like Mike DeWine, or stay home and give control of the state’s most powerful offices back to the Democrats.
The backroom deals led to a revolt from within manifested by a slew of new candidates with ties to Ohio’s Tea Party groups running for central committee seats. It’s clear that this time the Republican leadership in Ohio pushed the wrong buttons.
Oddly enough, Republicans in the Ohio House and Senate are staunchly pro-gun and most have strong conservative credentials. Yet, the ORP continually fails to elevate conservatives to a place of prominence on the statewide ticket.
Any hope the Ohio Republican Party had to capitalize on the growing anger over President Obama’s leftist agenda is being swept away by their willingness to champion candidates like DeWine. They also failed to recognize the anger generated by Obama’s backroom deals while negotiating health care reform and used the same cloak and dagger politics to clear DeWine’s path to the AG nomination.
Feb