You wrote “Ken Blackwell”
I like the idea, but he ran a weak contest for Governor.
To me there are two scenarios:
1) Josh Mandel runs a strong but losing race against Sherrod Brown— then Kasich picks Mandel.
2) Mandel either wins or runs poorly....then it’s an open ball game. I don’t see any Congress critter who jumps out as a dominant candidate. Maybe Sec of State Hustead or Lt Gov Taylor???
I expect Mandel to win. As for Blackwell, he was in a no-win scenario in 2006. He not only had to battle against the RINO wing of the party just to get the nomination, he had to carry the burden of a viscerally unpopular party and was tarred with the scandal of the then-most unpopular Governor in the country, Bob Taft. Blackwell should’ve run for Governor back in 1998. He’d have ended up a leading candidate for President by 2008.