"One thing I forgot to add. If Governor Taft were truly interested in saving the state GOP and preserving (or rather, restoring) its integrity, he could instruct his appointed Lieutenant Governor to resign and then follow suit himself with his own resignation, and Blackwell would then become the Governor, being next in the line of succession."
What I thought would be better was if Taft resigned in order to "allow the people of Ohio to have a clean slate and put the ethics problems behind them)" and then the Lt. Gov. could, after a week or so (but before he has named a Lt. Gov.), announce that he is interested in running for X and is resigning, and then Blackwell would accede to the governorship.
You're right about Blackwell being the most qualified gubernatorial candidate in Ohio. If Blackwell was white, we'd be writing about how Blackwell is the most qualified but we would be worried if he could get to 50% while getting less than 10% of the black vote; the fact that he's black and has a history of getting around 40% (IIRC) of the black vote only means that he is not only the best qualified but also our most electable candidate (even if Blackwell only gets 20% of the black vote, he would be almost impossible for a Democrat to defeat).
"What I thought would be better was if Taft resigned in order to "allow the people of Ohio to have a clean slate and put the ethics problems behind them)" and then the Lt. Gov. could, after a week or so (but before he has named a Lt. Gov.), announce that he is interested in running for X and is resigning, and then Blackwell would accede to the governorship."
Knowing very little about the new Lt Gov, Bruce Johnson, I have no idea if given the opportunity to serve in the top job, would he merely step aside ?