You guys probably keep auditor, and AG. However that poll done a couple of weeks ago that had DeWine up big time raises a question. I tend not to think he will win cause the base is just sick of him. PERIOD. I thought had he run for Auditor or Treasurer then he would have won. Cordray is a Blue Dog Dem and I think he will pick votes from conservative Indy’s that will put him over the top.

Don’t see Portman losing. This is going to be a bad year for Dems. As for Strickland I always said I do think he could win. I mean after all, we re-elected Bob Taft.

And yes Sujay, it did take Reagan three years!

I don’t think it’s a guaranteed the republicans with the Secretary of State’s race. We finally have a decent candidate now AND Sandra O’Brien is the candidate who knocked off Lt. Governor Bradley in the 06 primary. Not saying she’ll knock off Husted but it’s possible. If she does, we hold the seat. If she doesn’t, it’ll be close.

I agree, either way, we win the Auditor’s race.

We hold Attorney General.

I think the Treasurer’s race is probably lost but again, you never know.

As for Fisher, he’s not that bad of a candidate. He lost in 98, but like you said, nobody was going to beat Taft. 94 was a tsunami for the republicans and everone went down. It doesn’t help when you have Joel Hyatt and Rob Burch at the top of the ticket for the democrats. A lot of good democrats lost that year. And in 1990, he did win in a year when statewide attorney general celebreeze lost and the incumbent Secretary of State lost. I think Brunner is more electable but she can’t raise money at all.

1. You guys have a bitter primary, too. It’s the auditor’s race. However, Pepper will likely beat either Yost or CPA, so who cares?

You guys will likely take the Treasurer’s and Sec. of State’s race, and O’Connnor will probably cream Eric Brown (despite his last name) for Chief Justice (although the guv will probably appoint him to O’Connor’s spot once she moves to the Chief Justice post).

2. You are right about Fisher’s prospects, but not because he couldn’t beat Taft. Rather because he can’t beat ANYONE. No one was going to beat Taft in 1998. The family name hadn’t yet been tarnished, and he obviously have a lot of name ID and money. Instead, Fisher will lose because he can’t win statewide (except on someone else’s coattails in a very Democratic year). Remember, despite having loads of money and being from a large base in Cleveland, he beat an unknown Paul Pfeifer (from Bucyrus, Ohio) in the 1990 AG race by a whopping 1,234 votes. Then he lost to an then equally unknown Betty Montgomery (from Bowling Green, Ohio) 4 years later. Fisher just isn’t a vote getter, period, be it against folks from small rural towns or, like you point out, Taft.

Let’s hope Brunner wins the primary. She can win statewide. I agree with MPD that Portman’s baggage as budget director for the most fiscally irresponsible administration in recent memory will ultimately bring him down. And it looks like people are finally seeing through Kasich’s attempt to give Ohioans a free lunch. His numbers are already beginning to slip, which will also hurt Portman.

3. Give Obama time. Your icon, President Reagan, needed a almost 3 full years in his first term before things finally began to turn around.

The same Brunner who has been overruled by Ohio’s Top court when she thought she was above the law when she appointed her own appointee to the Summit County BOE?

You can say what you want about Bush’s policies and that’s fine. But Obama’s are not any better. And I hope President Obama continues to fail!