::: dahlbergcentral.com ::: i don't need to pee pee, i just need to rock

OK, so yes, it is teh funny to gawk at the Ohio GOP gubernatorial primary these days. A frequent lunchtime topic of conversation at my office is just how much more painful it could be to watch Ken Blackwell and Jim Petro try to outdo one another. The spectacle is something we should probably be greatful for, because for the moment, it's taken away some of the attention on just how pathetically inept the Ohio Democratic primaries are about to become.

Three candidates in the gubernatorial primary? Nope; after an embarrassing round of "we're not really trying to make this endorsement process difficult for anyone" (see, for instance, ODP Chair Chris Redfern actually calling a blogger to reassure her that they're not trying to make Fingerhut drop out of the race), lo and behold, Fingerhut's out. (Not that I think he had much of a chance in the primary, anyway, but come on, it's a primary.)

Then there's the now-contested race between Paul Hackett and longtime Congressman Sherrod Brown for the chance (chance!) to run against Mike DeWine in November -- Hackett declared first, Brown later only when he sensed some vulnerability in DeWine's seat. Only now there's pressure on Hackett to drop out of the Senate race and go back to Cincinnati to run against Jean Schmidt again, leaving the field clear for Brown -- which is suddenly trumpeted as "Hackett definitely out" from some quarters. (No definite response from the Hackett campaign yet.)

Oy. Bickering over who should go to which race in order to make it "easy" for the party's preferred candidates kind of, I don't know, defeats the purpose of the primary, yes? Save it for November, guys.

(Chris's on-the-money post on the subject is what spurred all of this tonight, so start there and work your way through the links. Worthwhile reading.)

UPDATE: Hell, I hadn't even finished the last post edit and he dropped out.

posted by Gus at 11:16 PM | |