Carroll Commencement
Fairborn commencement
Badin graduation
Ellen Belcher is the Dayton Daily News opinion pages editor. She writes about state government, education, the environment, higher education and all things Dayton.
Martin Gottlieb is an editorial writer and columnist for the Dayton Daily News opinion pages. He focuses on the political process itself and does such national issues as war, the economy, taxes and Social Security, as well as a hodge-podge of local and state issues.Home > Blogs > A Matter of Opinion > Archives > 2009 > December > 02 > Entry
Martin Gottlieb: Anti-Obama backlash is problem for Ohio Republicans first
After a meeting of the Ohio Republican Party in September to slate candidates for 2010, John Kasich, who got the nod for governor, said, “I think (President) Obama has performed a miracle: He’s united the Republican Party.”
But then, in New York, the Republicans managed to lose a Republican congressional district in a Republican year by turning to internal war. The division in that race — pitting the Sarah Palin/Glenn Beck/“tea party” super-conservatives against the merely conservative party establishment — is now turning up everywhere.
In South Carolina, Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham has been harshly censured by the Charleston County Republican Party after such infractions as insisting that the party must not be too conservative in some sections of the country, and voting for a Barack Obama nominee for Supreme Court, and working with Democrat John Kerry to put together a proposal on global warming.
Big ideological splits are developing over statewide primaries in Florida, California and elsewhere. The pattern is that big names or established politicians with proven records as vote getters are being challenged by smaller names with big appeal to the party’s famously conservative “base.”
All of which is not to say that Kasich was completely wrong in seeing Obama as an asset to his party. If he had used the word “energized” instead of “united,” he would have been completely right. And that’s important. The best bet is that anti-Obama energy — passion, determination — will prove important next November.
For now, though, it has Republicans taking aim at Republicans. Look at Ohio. Under some circumstances, one might expect Mike DeWine to be a consensus candidate for attorney general, given that he has won multiple statewide elections (before losing a Senate re-election bid in 2008). In truth, he still might breeze to the nomination.
But he’s being challenged by a prosecutor from Delaware County, Dave Yost, who’s getting support from people who have always found DeWine insufficiently rigid in his conservatism.
Yost has been endorsed by the Butler County Republican Party. The chairman of the party in Clermont County told the Cincinnati Enquirer he expects the same result there. Warren County conservative activist Lori Viars acknowledges that DeWine is acceptably conservative on abortion, but she’s still mad about his stand against a gay-marriage constitutional ban a few years ago. (The fight was over wording.)
DeWine’s moderation on gun issues is another problem for him.
Meanwhile, in the U.S. Senate race, Rob Portman — a consensus candidate of the party establishment if there ever was one — is being challenged by Cleveland-area car dealer Tom Ganley.
Ganley is also coming from the right, though there isn’t much room over there on the other side of Portman. And Ganley has his own money to spend. He has already started running television ads.
State Sen. Jon Husted also faces a challenge from the right in his bid to be the Republican candidate for secretary of state. His opponent is Sandra O’Brien, who upset the appointed Republican state treasurer to win a primary in 2006, only to lose the general election.
Then there’s the case of U.S. Rep. Jean Schmidt, of the 2nd District. In a congressional career marked by embarrassment, her big selling point in her overwhelmingly Republican district has always been her staunch, unquestionable conservatism. It’s carried her through.
But now Warren County Commissioner Michael Kilburn — he of the “filthy money” complaint about the federal stimulus package — is opposing her in the primary. He thinks it’s about time the district was represented by a conservative.
None of these races may represent the tea-party people at their most potent. The establishment certainly should be able to hold off the challenges.
But that doesn’t mean the party establishment will be unaffected. First of all, there’s the question of how far to the right the challengers will be able to pull the established candidates during the campaign. Conventional wisdom holds that the most conservative candidate has an advantage in a Republican primary. Who will be scared by that, and how scared?
And what about the future? An incumbent hates nothing more than a primary. How far to the right will the incumbents go to avoid such challenges?
These are bigger questions than whether the Republicans themselves will be hurt by these primaries. That’s seriously unlikely. The New York case was peculiar, involving three parties and three names before the voters during the campaign.
Typically, primaries do not harm a party unless the party remains divided afterwards. That’s unlikely to happen to the Republicans so long as Obama is on his current course.
But that’s speculation. What’s known for sure is that the conservative backlash against Obama is, first on the calendar, a problem for Obama’s opponents.
Permalink | Comments (18) | Post your comment | Categories: Columns, Martin Gottlieb, Miami Valley Politics, National Politics, Ohio politics
Comments
By Leslie
December 2, 2009 12:25 PM | Link to this
It is NOT anti-Obama it is anti-Marxist policies. This is all about the policies, not the man! We had 8 years of republicans acting like democrats, now we are saying enough is enough. If the republicans are going to act like democrats than we might as well vote for the democrat. The only difference between McCain and Obama was that McCain would support the troops and Obama despises the military. So the republicans really did not give us someone to vote for that was different than the democrats. It’s not conservative versus moderate, it is all about principles. Something you democrats don’t understand.
By Rob F
December 2, 2009 1:18 PM | Link to this
Keep on dreaming Martin. Party’s over.
By Philman
December 2, 2009 1:22 PM | Link to this
Just like the Pathetic liberals at the ddn to ignore the voter fraud that is being investigated in the New York election, ALSO Marty the Lib, & the ddn is SILENT about the democratic chairman of southern Ohio is under investigation for illegal activities last election, why did i have to read it on RED STATE UPDATE, Eric Erickson’s web site & not the ddn local news
By ray
December 2, 2009 1:40 PM | Link to this
you are correct leslie. we don’t understand your principles.
By joe_mamma
December 2, 2009 1:55 PM | Link to this
Martin, You forgot to mention the Virginia and New Jersey governor races that were won by Republicans that ran as conservatives.
By Leslie
December 2, 2009 2:24 PM | Link to this
Ray it is not that you do not understand my principles, it is that you have none. You have no respect for the individual. You have BORG mentality. Progressive policies are plantation policies. We expect that from democrats, we know what we are getting. Republicans need to stick to their principles, protect the constitution and this country from the liberals that want to transform America into Venezuela.
By ray
December 2, 2009 2:52 PM | Link to this
have we met? how do know so much about me? how did you know i was from venezuela?
By scoobydo
December 2, 2009 3:43 PM | Link to this
“ignore the voter fraud that is being investigated in the New York election”, you forgot to mention ACORN, but then they had nothing to do with the NY race, although nutcase Hoffman cited them as usually for GOP. Always blame someone else for your shortcomings. Only one that is calling voter fraud is the lame candidate Hoffman, the Palin/Limbaugh party. Then there are the facts, “The Jefferson County Republican elections commissioner told the Watertown Daily Times that Hoffman’s allegations were ‘absolutely false.’” However, as usually for the GOP, do not let them there facts get in your way of a good lie. This is why the GOP is still going to lose. This internal fighting and the same old lies the voters are getting tired of hearing: tags like socialism, Nazis, Marxist, Commies, and whatever else the tea baggers/Palin/Limbaugh/Hannity/Beck put on the chalkboard.
By Martin
December 2, 2009 10:03 PM | Link to this
Martin, you have missed the point again. Repubs are upset because the Lindsey’s and McCain’s are more interested in “extending their hand across the aisle” than true conservative principles. Man-made Global Warming has been debunked. The criminal scientists who manipulated the data should be prosecuted for FRAUD. You are more astute than this article. Apologize before your fairly limited objectivity is lost in Oidol worship.
By Wilson Brockmann
December 3, 2009 7:52 AM | Link to this
I think you underestimate the republican party when upset by Obama and his Acornettes. The potential of destroying the American culture with that abominable healthcare bill. The conservatives are just now waking up. They are the sleeping giant.
By Wilson Brockmann
December 3, 2009 7:53 AM | Link to this
I think you underestimate the republican party when upset by Obama and his Acornettes. The potential of destroying the American culture with that abominable healthcare bill. The conservatives are just now waking up. They are the sleeping giant.
By THOMAS J
December 3, 2009 10:20 AM | Link to this
One thing is for sure the ‘RIGHT WING’ nuts in the Rep. party will win out in the primaries and then shoot themselves in the foot during the elections, Ohio could be the exception though.They seem to get all their advise from the “FOX’ NETWORK”
By Roger Reffitt
December 3, 2009 2:42 PM | Link to this
There are no problems for the Ohio Republicans. The issues the dems have made focus point such as greengate, healthcare bill, cap and trade and amnesty are all bad for America. The result will mean less personal freedom, government structuring our society, new taxes, higher taxes and new restrictions. The bigger picture is about globalization. All of these things I am opposed to. I seek smaller government, individuality, capitalism with patriotic leadership, participative healthcare as opposed to get it or be fined/jail. What kind of people are in Washington? Socialists, marxists and corrupt.
By Roger Reffitt
December 3, 2009 2:42 PM | Link to this
There are no problems for the Ohio Republicans. The issues the dems have made focus point such as greengate, healthcare bill, cap and trade and amnesty are all bad for America. The result will mean less personal freedom, government structuring our society, new taxes, higher taxes and new restrictions. The bigger picture is about globalization. All of these things I am opposed to. I seek smaller government, individuality, capitalism with patriotic leadership, participative healthcare as opposed to get it or be fined/jail. What kind of people are in Washington? Socialists, marxists and corrupt.
By Roger Reffitt
December 3, 2009 2:43 PM | Link to this
There are no problems for the Ohio Republicans. The issues the dems have made focus point such as greengate, healthcare bill, cap and trade and amnesty are all bad for America. The result will mean less personal freedom, government structuring our society, new taxes, higher taxes and new restrictions. The bigger picture is about globalization. All of these things I am opposed to. I seek smaller government, individuality, capitalism with patriotic leadership, participative healthcare as opposed to get it or be fined/jail. What kind of people are in Washington? Socialists, marxists and corrupt.
By Roger Reffitt
December 3, 2009 2:44 PM | Link to this
There are no problems for the Ohio Republicans. The issues the dems have made focus point such as greengate, healthcare bill, cap and trade and amnesty are all bad for America. The result will mean less personal freedom, government structuring our society, new taxes, higher taxes and new restrictions. The bigger picture is about globalization. All of these things I am opposed to. I seek smaller government, individuality, capitalism with patriotic leadership, participative healthcare as opposed to get it or be fined/jail. What kind of people are in Washington? Socialists, marxists and corrupt.
By Roger Reffitt
December 3, 2009 2:45 PM | Link to this
There are no problems for the Ohio Republicans. The issues the dems have made focus point such as greengate, healthcare bill, cap and trade and amnesty are all bad for America. The result will mean less personal freedom, government structuring our society, new taxes, higher taxes and new restrictions. The bigger picture is about globalization. All of these things I am opposed to. I seek smaller government, individuality, capitalism with patriotic leadership, participative healthcare as opposed to get it or be fined/jail. What kind of people are in Washington? Socialists, marxists and corrupt.
By mark
December 10, 2009 9:33 AM | Link to this
Every time I see the Dayton Daily News sale guy in Kroger or walking down the street hawking subscriptions, I mention this writer and tell him I will never subscribe to the DDN as long as it insists on presenting only the ultra-liberal points of view.