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Townhall...
Don’t be Too Sure
Ohio Leans Democrat
By Mona Charen
9/23/2011
When New York’s District 9 went Republican, Rep. Debbie Wasserman
Schultz, chairwoman of the Democratic National Committee, explained
that the district, which has been in Democratic hands since 1923, is “a
very difficult district for Democrats.” By that standard, the entire
nation may go Republican in 2012.
Democrats hold a 3-seat majority in the U.S. Senate. But two-thirds of
the contested 2012 seats are in Democratic hands. Having to defend so
many seats would be challenging at any time (funds have to be spread
more thinly), but with a president whose approval ratings are sinking
steadily, the prospects for continued Democratic dominance look even
worse. Most prognosticators put North Dakota in the likely Republican
pick-up column, while Florida, Michigan, New Mexico, Massachusetts,
Nebraska, Missouri, Virginia, West Virginia and Nevada are considered
toss-ups. Ohio, where first-term Senator Sherrod Brown is seeking
reelection, is considered a “lean Democrat” race. We’ll see.
Brown has won one contest already: the race to the left. When the
National Journal rated U.S. senators, Brown was ranked as “most
liberal,” beating out even avowed Socialist Bernie Sanders for the
honor. Brown supported Obamacare, for example, but only reluctantly
because he favored a single-payer, Canadian model.
As in 2000, 2004 and 2008, Ohio is likely to be a key swing state in
the presidential contest, so the senate race assumes even more
importance. And that race is shaping up to be a classic
liberal/conservative clash.
Brown’s likely opponent, Josh Mandel, has one thing in common with the
sitting senator -- both were considered too young looking when they
entered politics. In 1975, a year after graduating from college, Brown
was elected to the Ohio legislature. Another member, mistaking him for
a page, gave him a dollar and asked him to fetch a cup of coffee. Brown
has since spent his entire career in politics, winning the senate seat
in 2006 -- a very bad year for Republicans.
The story for Josh Mandel is a little different. He first ran for and
won a seat on his town council when he was 26 -- but looked about 16.
He was carded everywhere he went. He has since served two tours in Iraq
as a Marine intelligence specialist -- one while a sitting member of
the Ohio legislature. While he still looks much younger than his 33
years, he doesn’t sound it.
Mandel was inspired to join the Marines out of gratitude to this
country. He is the grandson of Holocaust survivors. His grandmother,
Fernanda, was an Italian Jew who was hidden by a Catholic family
throughout the war. The blessings of liberty are not just an
abstraction for Mandel.
Mandel is one of those people who seems able to squeeze more days into
a year than the rest of us. In contrast to many young men who are still
living with their parents after college, Mandel has been a lawyer, a
councilman, a member of the Ohio legislature, a U.S. Marine, and Ohio’s
state treasurer. He boasts that when he first ran for the Ohio
legislature (in a 2-1 Democratic district), he knocked on 19,679 doors,
wearing out three pairs of shoes. (He hung the shoes on his office
wall.) When he swears that no one will outwork him, you believe...
Read the rest of the column at Townhall
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