Posted on 10/15/2006 7:49:07 PM PDT by nj26
Senior Republican leaders have concluded that Senator Mike DeWine of Ohio, a pivotal state in this year’s fierce midterm election battles, is likely to be heading for defeat and are moving to reduce financial support for his race and divert party money to other embattled Republican senators, party officials said.
The decision to effectively write off Mr. DeWine’s seat, after a series of internal Republican polls showed him falling behind his Democratic challenger, is part of a fluid series of choices by top leaders in both parties as they set the strategic framework of the campaign’s final three weeks, signaling, by where they are spending television money and other resources, the Senate and House races where they believe they have the best chances of success.
Republicans are now pinning their hopes of holding the Senate on three states — Missouri, Tennessee and, with Ohio off the table, probably Virginia — while trying to hold on to the House by pouring money into districts where Republicans have a strong historical or registration advantage, party officials said Sunday. Republicans also said they would run advertisements in New Jersey this week to test the vulnerability of Senator Robert Menendez, one of the few Democrats who appear endangered.
Senior national Republican strategists who had been briefed on decisions made during the party’s internal deliberations discussed the overall strategic thrusts but declined to provide specific dollar figures, saying that would give too much information to the Democrats.
The decision involving Mr. DeWine offers the most compelling evidence so far that Republicans are circling their wagons around a smaller group of races, effectively conceding some Senate and House seats with the goal of retaining at least a thin margin of control...
(Excerpt) Read more at nytimes.com ...
I'm still optimistic, but I have that character flaw.... :)
That theory would only hold if the NYT had any ethics.
HOW can the Repubs be helped by a RINO who will stab Bush in the back, vote like a Dem and then use his position to advance his RINOish agenda?
"So why then is Blackwell hurting more than DeWine"
As a Federal officeholder seeking reelection, DeWine is not as closely linked to Taft as Blackwell, a state officeholder who is seeking Taft's office.
I sure hope the optimists on this thread are not just pollyannas, but have some rational basis for their exuberance. Some people still predict the GOP will make gains, which is just plain foolhardy.....on my end, I don't think it looks great for the GOP. Much worse than it looked a month ago, it seems. I think we probably lose both houses, contrary to what I predicted a month ago. But, dammit, I would relish the opportunity to be wrong.
Using that as a backdrop, DeWine should be in a deep of trouble as Blackwell. Ney, Foley and the general dis-satisfaction with the direction of Iraq/Afganisatan should ding DeWine just as deeply as Blackwell.
Yes, I am saying that the state GOP is supporting Blackwell (and I can only speak to the state, not the local in Columbus). Sorry to burst your bubble that Ken is swimming against the tide in the party. Even if they don't like Ken, they know what losing the governor's seat means: losing the power to appoint people to regulatory boards and judgeships. They are doing the same thing they do in every cycle, which is to publicize the entire ticket and get out the vote. They are actually doing more of it in SW Ohio than any of the five gubernatorial races I've been around for.
What, to me, is also unprecedented, is the level of complaining of lack of party support from the Blackwell operatives.
Don't tell me where I ought to be. I have supported an opponent of Voinovich and DeWine in every primary they've run, plus Tom Brinkman in the special to replace Portman. Hell, I even voted Billy Inmon for Governor as a protest vote against Voinovich. (I've grown up since then and that race wasn't even going to be close.)
Another place I've been quite a bit lately is the ORP-run victory center in my home county. I don't do much calling but I spend a great deal of time walking various neighborhoods. This is where I am running into the Blackwell people complaining about lack of party support, even as I hear other volunteers (many of whom supported Petro) in the background making the ORP calls mentioning only Blackwell and DeWine by name.
Keep rolling on the floor laughing, but at some point, you'll need to get up, give back the Blackwell Kool-Aid at the nearest commode, zip your pants, and get to work.
The reason I know that many of the party bigwhigs haven't backed Blackwell because he's so conservative is that I'm involved in the Blackwell campaign in my county since before the primary. I've heard it from one of the horse's mouths. Blackwell won the primary because of the grassroots conservatives bucking the party in Columbus.
As for your ignorant, foul mouthed, arrogant slam at the end. I've been going door to door and making phone calls for Mike DeWine, and he's so wimpy and so much of an appeaser that he sometimes makes me physically ill.
So get off your high horse and stop blaming Blackwell people for complaining about the truth.
We need to stick together here, and as long as you fight against US........that is the conservatives in the party...........you'll contribute to any possible loss of this critical election.
In other words, YOU shut up and get to work.
bigwigs...........duhhhh
There were a lot of those "RINO" votes Blackwell could have had if they hadn't run such a divisive campaign. The sneering at those "RINO" votes is one of the reasons Blackwell won't be getting those votes in November. And whether you like RINOs or not, a RINO's vote counts the same as one cast by one of the "base".
I'm voting Blackwell, but I know far too many of the RINO/country-club Republican set (and there are a LOT of them in this state), that aren't.
Whether you believe Ohio needs Blackwell after Taft is completely irrelevant to Blackwell's chances of winning. What matters isn't what his staff/volunteers/Freepers think, but what the majority of the electorate think. He's head and shoulders above Strickland in every single way, and he's the best thing to come along in Ohio politics in a very long time.
If you're a staunch conservative....
...but the Blackwell people have had to fight the establishment because he's too far to the right. (Which is where YOU ought to be).
Where Freepers are on Blackwell doesn't matter on election day if the votes aren't there. The fact is that Blackwell may very well be the right guy, but Ohio is NOT a state that generally supports hardline conservatives. Seriously, when was the last time we elected one? Look at our governors and senators over the last few decades: DeWine? Voinovich? Glenn? Metzenbaum? Taft? Rhodes? It's a rather pathetic collection of ideologies going from wishy-washy Republican to a far lefty like Metzenbaum. Not a single true conservative in the bunch.
The problem is that Blackwell's campaign really consisted of a grass-roots rebellion among conservative Republican, who unfortunately do not make up a majority of the electorate. The fight with Petro/Montgomery was pretty bitter, and many of the Blackwell supporters I know almost appeared gleeful at that prospect. They wanted a fight, they got it, and they won. The problem is what they won --the Republican nomination -- is very damaged goods. It's the winner, not the loser, who is supposed to be gracious, and the Blackwell campaign apparently forgot that.
Sorry, the senior Republican leaders are the voters, and I don't know any of them who are staying home on Election Day. We're not conceding anything.
With links, please......
As far as conservatives' just wanting a good fight, IMO, that's preposterous.
Any conservative who doesn't actually want Blackwell to WIN is a posseur. And any Republican who doesn't care if Strickland does, is no friend of the State of Ohio.
Which camp are you in?
But if you want support, just look at the threads on FR from Blackwell supporters, including this one. It's hard to find one where the RINO tag isn't broken out. "RINO's? We don't need no stinkin' RINOs!" RINO's are dismissed with contempt, but nevertheless expectedto vote for Blackwell. That ain't too smart, in my book. If you want more examples, check out the Ohio forum with all the conservatives who swore they'd never support DeWine because he's a "RINO". They are intentionally dividing the party at a time when we need to pull together.
Just to be clear, I'm not saying you are one of those people. But there are a lot of them out there, unfortunately. Would rather lose standing alone than win with a RINO. In my book -- and I suspect in yours too -- A RINO is better than a Dem. But for some conservatives, that's not the case.
Any conservative who doesn't actually want Blackwell to WIN is a posseur.
Agreed. The problem is that conservatives are NOT a majority in Ohio.
And any Republican who doesn't care if Strickland does, is no friend of the State of Ohio.
I agree with that as well. But being able to say to someone that "you're no friend of the state of Ohio" the day after Blackwell loses is little comfort for me. After the election was the time for some fence-mending and maybe a bit of butt-kissing. It's too bad that's the way the system works, but that's the electoral reality in which we live. And hearing "RINO" used as a expletive by many Blackwell supporters wasn't exactly the way to unify the party.
My problem is your use of the words 'Blackwell people' when it seems that you are talking about (excuse me for being blunt) some of the nutjobs here on FR claiming conservativism but lacking even the most basic intelligence or common sense to qualify them as such.
I don't think the actual Blackwell campaign has been 'ungracious.'
Some of the people on this forum who claim to support him (and who knows if they're not trolls?) don't speak for the majority of conservatives who have been working hard on his behalf, nor do they represent Blackwell himself.
Perhaps that's the heart of the problem here. The naysayers here on FR who may or may not be what they say they are. I choose to ignore anyone who screams RINO in every post and wants to 'teach the Republicans a lesson.'
I figure most of them are RATS.......or just stupid. ;)
I'll put my hours up against yours any day of the week.
Which gives me an idea... see the Ohio locale board.
maybe it's because the race is well in hand, not because they're conceding it.
Ah, you're a selective fortune teller. You can predict how Kean will vote, but not how Menendez will vote.
A RINO who votes with us 50% is better than a rat who votes against us 100%. If the rat media is correct, and we lose some seats in the Senate, the NJ seat could ALSO be the difference between Majority Leader GOP or Majority Leader Reed. You've been a Freeper long enough to already know this. Are you embarassed to have this explained to you day after day?
That's a fair point. The nutjobs who rail against RINO's may all be Blackwell supporters, but the Blackwell supporters are not all nutjobs. Else I'd have to sign myself up as a nutjob too. I should have been more clear that it was only some of his campaign workers/supporters that were the problem.
It's pretty clear to me that Blackwell's views are to the right of most of the Ohio electorate, and even to the right of the party establishment in the state. It also appeared to me that the Blackwell campaign, especially early on, choose to emphasize those issues that were most controversial rather than emphasizing the common ground. A lot of moderate Republicans I know were really turned off by some of those early commercials, and I don't think Blackwell ever got them back.
So I guess that's also part of my impression of the campaign -- what seemed to be a conscious effort to emphasize those issues most likely to alienate RINO's.
So stop whining on this very public forum about the 'nasty' Blackwell supporters and saying foul things to people who call you on it, and we'll be fine.
btw, the Buckeyes were AWESOME against Michigan State, don't you think?
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