Scandal, job worries lift GOP insurgents to wins By STEVE EDER and JAMES DREW, BLADE STAFF WRITERS

The rising tide against Ohio’s Republican establishment on Tuesday swept away two of the party’s biggest names and scored a victory for GOP candidates who challenged business as usual in Columbus. …

That opening paragraph sounds so encouraging, speaking of insurgents and change within the Ohio Republican Party. But who is the number one “insurgent”? Ken Blackwell, current Ohio Secretary of State, who delivered Ohio for Bush and is riding a wave of evangelical support. In other words, the challenge is from the Radical Right — hardly a change of any kind. mjh

Republicans predicted that Democrats will focus on the scandal but fall short in providing plans for creating jobs and boosting the economy. [mjh: not one of the many scandals you’re thinking of]

John McClelland, a spokesman for the Ohio GOP, said the Democratic ticket is “woefully inexperienced” in comparison with the Republican nominees, who also include U.S. Sen. Mike DeWine and U.S. Rep. Bob Ney. [mjh: under investigation for involvement with Abramoff, Ney is very “experienced”.]

“[We] have longtime officeholders such as Mike DeWine who won handily, Betty Montgomery who won handily, Bob Ney won handily in his district, but at the same time you have agents of change such as Ken Blackwell, who has an agenda of growing the economy by cutting taxes, fiscal restraint, and government integrity and accountability,” Mr. McClelland said. “Those are issues that resonate across Ohio. Those are issues that Ken Blackwell is going to run on in November and issues we think we are going to win on.”

Actually, those are the issues Blackwell will run in public on. In private, among churchgoers, his campaign is completely different. mjh

Ohio 2004 election thief grabs Gov nod while (surprise! surprise!) voting machines malfunction