Mr. Governor

Governor Taft pleaded no contest to criminal misdemeanor charges for failing to report various golf outings and gifts over the course of the last several years. He is, of course, the first Ohio governor ever indicted on criminal charges while in office. His former Cheif of Staff, Brian Hicks, has also been indicted on similar charges. Columbus is just a mess with the coin and MDL scandals, Taft's problems, and seeming GOP indifference, largely. It is difficult to gauge just how bad this will play with the electorate. I would be very concerned, save the fact that the Ohio Dems are disorganized and don't have a lot of money. That said, nobody is going to vote GOP if they think they are electing a criminal. Some of the Republican brass supports defending Taft vigorously with the reasoning that if Taft goes down, everybody goes down. Others favor isolating Taft to perform a kind of damage control.

Hard to say what the right thing to do for a Republican legislator is at this point. Some statewide candidates have come out and called for his resignation, others are mum. From what I know at this point, I don't see why Taft should not finish out his term. He was duly elected and his missteps don't seem to match up with the Ohio Constitution's requirements for impeachment. I don't really like impeachment as a rule, althought I did favor it for President Clinton (barely). I did not support the idea of a recall, as in California however.

The real issue, I think, is how this will affect the '06 races. Currently the Republicans control all 5 statewide offices and have a 22-11 majority in the Senate and a 61-38 majority in the House. Based on the current makeup of the Legislature and the way the districts are apportioned, I see it as extremely unlikely that the Legislature would overturn in either Chamber. The real danger is in the statewide offices. Ted Strickland, now a US rep from Southeast Ohio, is a serious threat to take the Governor's office. He is pro-gun, leans conservative on other things, and has been able to raise funds so far. The primary is his to lose at this point. From my point of view, the only viable candidate that the Republicans have is J. Kenneth Blackwell. He is well ahead of Petro and Montgomery in the polls, and has been able to raise a significant amount of money, always his bugaboo. (although a lot of it has come from out of state). Additionally, Blackwell has gotten a Tax and Expenditure Limitation Amendment on the ballot for Nov. '06, hoping to pull in some fiscal conservatives. Blackwell is anti-Establishment and has a reputation as a maverick. This will help him avoid the Columbus scandals and would prevent conservative votes from bolting to Strickland if Montgomery or Petro were the nominee. That is my personal view, others may disagree. Blackwell is not popular in Columbus, but it is now clear to everyone chances are he will be the nominee. No man can say how things will go, but a Blackwell-Strickland race will be fierce.

The second most important race is Attorney General. Republicans vying for the spot are State Senator Tim Grendell, and most likely, Franklin County Prosecutor Ron O'Brien. Shameless plug here for clearly the best candidate. Senator Grendell is running on his abolition of the proposed parking fee in state parks, his work to kill E-Check, and his eminent domain work in light of Kelo. He has introduced Senate Bill 167 to put a mortorium on all eminent domain takings with the intention of transfer to a private works or company until December 31, 06 in order to give the Legislature time to develop a reasoned, measured response to the Kelo problem. Ron O'Brien will be responsible for any future prosecution of the Governor or any other officials, that is part of his campaign strategy to be sure should any more scandal or problems come to light. (Which is likely). So far the only annouced Democrat is Jane Campbell's legal counsel, but there is a scad of other possibilities.

As far as the other races go, there are probably a lot of candidates that have not yet announced, and most of them are lesser known. I sense a big shakeup in Columbus, which isn't neccessarily bad. Columbus Republicans have run into a lot of the same problems that DC Republicans have had, and that is they have been in power for over a decade, they spend to much, they tax to much, they are too relaxed. This is partly because not all of the Republican party is conservative, and partly because much of the Columbus Establishment seeks to isolate some conservative, anti-tax types. I

Taft has been an ineffective, detached Governor who loves to tax and spend. However, I am not sure if sufficient conditions exist for him to resign. I fear or believe that more will develop along this line with the various scandals in Columbus as time goes on. We will see.