The Republican insiders I know are all deeply disappointed that Petro has lost to Ken Blackwell in the primary. The RINOs really hate him and they're predicting a dem win in the general. We'll see. I hope Ken pulls it off but it doesn't seem like his party is behind him.
Strickland handily defeated a former state legislator for the nomination.
With 60 percent of precincts reporting, he had 331,823 votes, or 78 percent.
Republicans targeted the House seat Strickland leaves open as one of its best shots nationally to gain a Democratic congressional spot.
They have been helped by the fact the Democrats' leading candidate must run as a write-in due to a filing mistake.
It's really sad when Republicans don't want to rally behind a black conservative that has a chance to win.
There are conservatives who are also dissappointed, not because Petro was the perfect conservative, but because they see Blackwell as more of an opportunist than a strong conservative figure.
I don't live in Ohio so it didn't matter but I was pulling for Petro. But now that it's Blackwell, I hope the Petro people can forget all the horribly negative things Blackwell said about them, and join him to kick the democrats in November.
The problem with negative campaigns is they cause hurt feelings.
Blackwell better win, or it will set back the conservative movement considerably. All conservatives better be supporting this nominee with their time and effort.
Sounds exactly like Simon v. Riordan in California in 2002: The CA/GOP leadership, appointed by Carl Rove, torpedoed the GOP conservative nominee, narrowly losing the general election. Then, when the Democrat governor ran the state on the rocks, the conservatives organized a recall drive and the GOP refused to back it. When the recall gained a sufficient number of signatures anyway, the RINOs ran Schwarzenegger against an experienced conservative, and told the conservatives to sit down and shut up. Stupidly, the conservatives backed him and the State debt has ballooned by 60%. Now they are virtually shut out of Party politics with Arnold appointing a majority of Democrats to State offices.
Unless conservatives make the GOP feel the pain of retribution, they'll never have a voice again. This is your one chance: get out the footsoldiers and work them like mad. You'll need every one of them.
I can tell you that, as a member of the steering committee in my county.
He has stood up against Taft. He is called the ANTI-TAFT.........and has been for a long time. The guys in Columbus may not like him because he's got courage to buck the party, but looking at the results of yesterday's election......WE like him, and WE are the people who count.
The grassroots campaign will be very strong.
Well, there are some valid reasons for that. There's no question that Blackwell is more conservative than Petro on social issues. And I think he'd be a much better Senator than Petro because he's much more reliably conservative on national issues.
For governor, though, administrative competence is extremely important. A "right" thinking guy who can't manage his way out of a paper bag would make a terrible governor.
Ohio state government is in terrible shape. There are overlapping agencies, lousy accountability, etc. It's screaming for someone who knows how to manage well to clean it up. And personally -- though I voted for Blackwell -- I think Petro would do a better job at that. He actually understands that stuff, and has been advocating for some much needed reforms for a number of years. And he's got the administrative track record of showing that he gets the job done.
I voted for Blackwell primarily because I think Petro can't win. He'd have gotten (mostly unfairly) smeared by the Taft/Noe problems because he comes across as just another one of those white establishment Republicans in the state, and that's not a good image here right now. Blackwell can separate from Taft much better than can Petro.
I also prefer Blackwell because I think he's more focused in than Petro on really easing the business climate in this state. My trepidation with him is that while I think he's philosophically in the right place, philosophy isn't enough in the governor's house if you don't have the administrative skills.
I've also got some concern that while the bull in the china shop approach may make some of us feel better, its meaningless unless accompanied by the ability to get legislation enacted. I'm not sure how good Ken is going to be in that regard because he's almost gone out of his way to alienate a lot of people whose support he'll need to get legislation through.
but can't they do what they tell conservatives to do: hold your nose, pull the lever. Any republican is better than any democrat. Right?
Why is it, no matter what their party affiliation, liberals just will NEVER support a conservative of any kind. Go, Ken, Go!
The same Republican insiders that were so wrong with Petro and Bradley? That gave us Taft, DuhWhine, and Voinovich? Don't worry. They'll fall in line for Nov. Their livelihoods depend on it.
Maybe it is good the RINOs are not behind Blackwell. If he wins that will smack down those RINOs but good. Reps don't generally do well with blacks but Blackwell may change that.
I'm not saying that Ken Blackwell is Reagan. But this sounded much like the attitudes of the establishment Republicans toward Ronald Reagan in 1976 and 1980.
Hopefully this will be a repeat of 1980 and not 1976 for Ohio.
He spoke at the California Republican Party Convention last year and got a very enthusiastic reception. Actually, I had never heard of him before then, and I was really impressed. I disagree that the party is not behind him. It would really help the party a lot to have another black Governor. He would also be very good for Ohio. I hope he wins.
The "Republican insiders" are the people who gave us "Governor" Robert Shaft and company. Bob Bennett the jerked over 'rat who sold out for money, is the party boss but he means nothing to the grass roots. Buckeyes haven't elected a good conservative because the scum who make up the "republican insiders" haven't allowed them the option--until now.