Monday, November 07, 2005

DeWine Keeps Digging

Having repeatedly aggravated his base, Sen. Mike DeWine has once again opened the Pandora's box he calls a mouth and backed off of his earlier statement that he would vote for the Byrd option should the Democrats mount a filibuster of Judge Alito. The most recent flip-flop comes after a Columbus Dispatch poll was taken late last month, showing DeWine polling in the low-30s against both of his potential opponents. DeWine has managed to collect more enemies than Imelda Markos collected shoes. It is only thanks to the corruption of Gov. Taft that he is not the least popular politician in the state.

Tomorrow's ballot initiatives will be a good indication of just how bad a shape he is in. If propositions 1-5 pass, DeWine will find himself the Democrats' #2 target after Sen. Mudd and ahead of Lincoln Chafee. If not, it suggests that the Ohio GOP still has a voter pull operation that will keep DeWine in the race.

Former Rep. Bob McEwen is still a potential primary challenger for DeWine, but his time is running out. The Ohio Primary takes place on May 1, meaning that McEwen would have less than six months to pull off the upset. Even so, the conservative establishment in the state would likely fall in lock-step behind a primary challenger, pitting conservatives against partisans in an ugly, but necessary, match-up. McEwen may well be waiting to see tomorrow's results to make a determination about whether he could mount a serious challenge. If GOP turnout fails to meet low expectations, expect McEwen to jump in the race within a week. The potential primary challenge could be the only way that the GOP could hold on to this seat.

0 Comments:

Post a Comment

<< Home