Could Ken Blackwell be Ohio's next Senator?

Another name has surfaced in the talk about who will take on communist Sherrod Brown in 2012. This time it is former Secretary of State Ken Blackwell.

The talk started when a PPP poll found that, if held today, he would win the GOP nod amond likely Republican primary voters.

Given the choices of Ken Blackwell, Drew
Carey, Jon Husted, Shannon Jones, Jim
Jordan, Steve LaTourette, Josh Mandel, and
Mary Taylor who would you most like to see as
the Republican candidate for Senate next
year?
Ken Blackwell ................................................. 17%
Drew Carey..................................................... 12%
Jon Husted...................................................... 14%
Shannon Jones............................................... 1%
Jim Jordan ...................................................... 8%
Steve LaTourette............................................. 8%
Josh Mandel ................................................... 6%
Mary Taylor ..................................................... 9%
Someone else/Undecided............................... 25%

With the silly proposition of Drew Carey removed, Blackwell's support jumps to 21%:

Ken Blackwell ................................................. 21%
Jon Husted...................................................... 14%
Shannon Jones............................................... 4%
Jim Jordan ...................................................... 10%
Steve LaTourette............................................. 10%
Josh Mandel ................................................... 7%
Mary Taylor ..................................................... 8%
Someone else/Undecided............................... 26%

It's still ridiculously early, of course. Many of the people in the poll have low name recognition compared to Blackwell. For example, Josh Mandel is expected to run for the job, and he does poorly in this poll. However, his favorability numbers show that he is an unknown quantity to most of the state voters.

Do you have a favorable or unfavorable opinion
of Josh Mandel?
Favorable .............. 22%
Unfavorable........... 5%
Not sure ................ 73%

For some reason, PPP asked that question about every person in the poll, except Ken Blackwell, so I can't make the comparison. Obviously, however, having been the 2006 GOP candidate for Governor, Blackwell's name is more well known.

Apparently, the poll results have peaked his interest. He told Politico that he'll be considering it.

"It means I will definitely take a serious look at it," he said. "I feel those numbers are worthy of further examination. I believe that constitutional conservatism is on the rebound. I think getting a conservative Republican majority is very important.”

Since the poll was released, Blackwell has frequently brought the subject up on Twitter, and his supporters have commissioned another poll. He won that one, too, and this time voters were asked about a head-to-head matchup versus Sherrod Brown.

Supporters of Blackwell have commissioned another poll and like what they see. First, in a primary matchup against newly elected state treasurer Josh Mandel and Rep. Pat Tiberi:

Q: If the 2012 Republican U.S. Senate primary was held today, and the only candidates running were Ken Blackwell, Josh Mandel, and Pat Tiberi, for whom would you vote?

Blackwell 34.1%
Mandel 17.3%
Tiberi 16.3%
Undecided 32.1%

Then in the head-to-head against Brown:

If the election for U.S. Senate was held today, and the only candidates running were Ken Blackwell and Sherrod Brown, for whom would you vote?

Blackwell 32.2%
Brown 45.0%
Undecided 22.8%

The results against Brown are not encouraging, but Sherrod can't be too comfortable sitting at 45%, either.

And in the same matchup against Brown, Tiberi and Mandel fared much worse than Blackwell, getting 20.8% and 21.4%, respectively.

Ken Blackwell is definitely a rock-solid conservative, and is a very good fundraiser. I would be absolutely thrilled to call Ken Blackwell my Senator. As mentioned previously, I'd also be excited about Josh Mandel, a rising star.

My concern with Blackwell, though, is the horrible beating he took to Ted Strickland in the 2006 race for Governor. Yes, it was a bad year all around for Republicans, and yes, Bob Taft's terrible tenure as Governor was against him, too. But he also didn't run a very good campaign, in the opinion of most.

Electability not being a factor, I'd prefer Ken Blackwell slightly over Josh Mandel. But right now, I think Mandel is a better bet to beat Sherrod Brown, once Mandel gets his name recognition up there. Brown is a skilled politician, and won't be easy to knock off.

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