Mike DeWine is Pleased with the Lack of Endorsement
Yesterday, I reported that Kevin DeWine pulled the plug on a potential endorsement in the race for AG. Tonight, Bill Hershey in the Dayton Daily News has the candidates’ responses:
Yost said he was disappointed but would continue working.
Mike DeWine said he was not disappointed.
“My focus in this race is articulating a vision for the attorney general’s office, what I want to do with that office and raising money so I can get that message across to people,” Mike DeWine said.
Mark Caleb Smith, director of the Center for Political Studies at Cedarville University, said in an e-mail that the race reflects what’s going on nationally.
“I think we are witnessing a battle between old-line moderates and conservatives for the control of the GOP,” Smith said.
I think it would be hard to describe a F from the NRA as “moderate.” And of course DeWine is pleased, as the longer an endorsement vote is delayed, the more smokey room deals and arm twisting can occur.
While issues certainly matter, at the end of the day this race is more about principled leadership verses the soulless, entrenched establishment. For example, I’d be very interested to know how badly Mike DeWine’s close friend, Summit County GOP Chairman Alex Arshinkoff, would love to be able to direct special counsel work to certain law firms.
And isn’t it fun to see the party elites worried about their core supporters?:
Montgomery County Republican Chairman Gregory Gantt, who personally supports Mike DeWine, said a non-endorsement might keep peace between DeWine supporters and those in the party, including some in the Tea Party movement, who want new candidates.
Republican Rob Scott of Kettering, president of the Dayton Tea Party, said the group doesn’t endorse candidates but that “I believe we need fresh faces.”
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