However, the hot name for the last month or so has been Josh Mandel.
Josh has served 2 terms in the Ohio House, is an Iraq war veteran, and currently serves as state Treasurer. He destroyed Kevin Boyce, winning 80 of 88 counties.
Josh is a solid conservative, both fiscally and socially. He has the backing of influential conservatives like Erick Erickson of Redstate.com, who says there are very few Senate races that excite him in 2012, but if Josh runs, Ohio is one of them.
Josh spoke at CPAC this year, and has also been urged to run by conservative columnist Hugh Hewitt, as well as many Republicans.
So what does Josh say? He has stayed non-committal, and said that he hasn't ruled it out. Then this post hit the Columbus Dispatch Daily Briefing Blog today, saying that Mandel is leaning towards a run and will make an announcement "this spring".
Later today, when asked, Josh still avoided the question.
Video courtesy Ohio Capital Blog
The Democrats are already knocking him. From the Dispatch post:
Seth Bringman, spokesman for the Ohio Democratic Party, chided the potential Mandel candidacy: "The best they can do is a candidate who has spent 71 days as treasurer and somehow thinks he's ready for higher office."They tweeted later:
Mandel only been in office for 71 days & already looking for his next job... but even Drew Carey beats him in the pollsAside from the obvious irony that Barack Obama waited about as long to run for POTUS, don't let them fool you. This is very bad news for them. They would much rather face someone else who had been rumored to want the job.
Why?
Because if Mandel runs against Brown, its going to be a race between a young, Ohio State University and CWRU law graduate who served two tours in Iraq, versus a Yale hippie who is the most liberal member of the Senate.
I like that matchup.
Bytor on Twitter
So is experience in the private sector no longer something we as Republicans ask out of our candidates?
ReplyDeleteI think Mandel has a bright future and I want to like him. However, his running for Senate would bring up several misgivings we had about Barack Obama. Little experience on the big stage. Runs for higher office just after being elected to a lesser office. Zero experience in the private sector. Sure, the military experience is great and I salute him for his service, but at this point there has to be someone more qualified we can run against Brown.
I would much prefer him to prove himself as Ohio's auditor before running off to campaign for another office mere months after being elected to this one.
Obviously that should say Ohio's treasurer instead of auditor. Sorry for the error.
ReplyDeleteI get your point, but there is a big difference between the office of POTUS and Senator.
ReplyDeleteIs it out of the ordinary? Sure. Josh is pretty young. But that hasn't stopped him from winning so far, and he already has a track record that reflects conservative values. I'm not sure there is a downside here.
I like Jim Jordan, too, but it doesn't look like he is running.
Beating Sherrod Brown won't be easy. We need a quality candidate.
"He destroyed Kevin Boyce, winning 80 of 88 counties, and got more votes than any other candidate in the state last fall."
ReplyDeleteAhem ...
Kevin Boyce: 1,525,992; 40.58%
Josh Mandel: 2,050,142; 54.52%
Lee Fisher: 1,503,297; 39.4
Rob Portman: 2,168,742; 56.85%
Maureen O'Connor: 2,232,724
ReplyDeleteEric Brown: 1,070,690
I stand corrected. Post fixed. Thanks, Kevin.
ReplyDeleteDrew Carey polls better, and Mary Taylor has better favorability ratings.
ReplyDelete