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EDITORIAL

Republicans should pick DeWine

By the Dayton Daily News

A herd of people want to move into the job Rob Portman had representing the 2nd Congressional District, which includes Lebanon and portions of Warren County. On June 14, there's an unusually timed primary election to pick a Republican and a Democrat, and then those two will face off in August.

On the Republican side, there are 11 candidates. The most serious contenders — because of their experience and, honestly, their war chests — are Hamilton County Commissioner Pat DeWine, former U.S. Rep. Bob McEwen and former state Rep. Jean Schmidt.

There is no Rob Portman among these three. Though he is unabashedly conservative, Mr. Portman didn't thrive on partisanship or devoting his life to the most ideologically contentious social issues of the day.

Notwithstanding some warts, Pat DeWine is the best candidate for Republicans. He was elected to Cincinnati City Council in 1999, where he was in the thick of things even though Democrats were in control. He prides himself on riding City Hall bureaucrats hard, successfully pushing a property tax cut and favoring privatization of city services.

Just elected in November to the Hamilton County Commission, Mr. DeWine has been accused of running for any big job that opens up. That's a little unfair considering that getting onto the commission required unseating a longtime Republican.

Mr. DeWine also has been criticized for a messy divorce and an extramarital relationship, which has made him a pariah with evangelical Christians. Some conservatives also are holding it against Mr. DeWine that his father, Sen. Mike DeWine, was one of the seven Republicans who negotiated with Democrats to break the impasse over handling the Senate filibuster. (Pat DeWine says he disagrees with his father's stance, though Sen. DeWine has the more sensible position.)

People who handicap elections think Bob McEwen should be the only candidate who can give Mr. DeWine trouble. A former member of Congress from a nearby district, Mr. McEwen was beaten in 1992 after getting caught up in the scandal about House members having dozens, even hundreds, of bounced checks covered by Congress' bank.

With 12 years of experience in Congress, Mr. McEwen is not a novice. He's been a member of powerful committees. And for the record, when he was in office, he was supportive of Dayton's interests.

But after his loss, he all but disappeared from Ohio and became a lobbyist in Washington. He's back here now only because there's an open seat that he thinks he can grab. If he wanted to eventually return to the House, hanging around needed to be part of his game plan.

Mr. McEwen is counting on hard-right religious conservatives turning out the vote for him. He can court whomever he wants, but it's worrisome that he has no reservations about being beholden to a group that's gaining steam in Ohio and is so unforgiving when government won't adhere to its interpretation of the Bible.

Former Rep. Schmidt had two terms in the Ohio House, she's been a township trustee in Clermont County and president of Greater Cincinnati Right to Life. Because some of the more rural areas of the district are likely to see her as focused on their concerns, she might get a fair number of votes. She could learn the job, but her experience in government isn't as varied or deep as Mr. DeWine's or Mr. McEwen's.

Mr. DeWine should get Republicans' votes.