What if There Was an Election and Nobody Came?

That just might happen in the Buckeye State next November. It now appears that Paul Hackett will challenge Sen. Mike DeWine (RINO-OH) in the Senate race. The Senate race will play second fiddle to a Gubernatorial race in which the GOP will have to find a way to convince voters to look past an administration that could take an ethics lesson from Chicago Mayor Daley. Making DeWine's life more difficult is the fact that the NRA will likely take a close look at his challenger, seeing an opportunity to punish the disobedient Republican by taking the rare step of endorsing a Democrat. DeWine has further aggravated his conservative base on gay marriage, abortion, and judicial filibusters.

For his part, Hackett will have a difficult time capitalizing on DeWine's weakness. If voters judge politicians by the friends they keep, making Hackett look like a modern version of Karl Marx should be an easy task for the GOP. Ohio is not Alabama, but it's not Vermont either, and seeing a candidate who doesn't even pretend to share their values might inspire as many people to come out to support DeWine as it does himself.

There are slim pickings for Ohio voters next year, unless former Rep. Bob McEwen launches a primary challenge. If he does so, he could inject some much needed enthusiasm to the vibrant conservative base in Ohio. If McEwen enters and wins the primary, there is a very good chance that Ohio will send a Republican back to Washington. If not, the Senate election will pretty much come down to which candidate has more relatives who are willing to vote for him in the state.