Several days ago rumors flew that Betty Montgomery was going to pull out of the race for Governor, those rumors were denied. However, the Beacon Journal this morning reported there will be an announcement today. By later today we will have confirmation, but the speculation as to which office Betty Montgomery is going to seek after she announces she is not going to run for governor was obvious to anyone who visited her website, this morning this was the image:
Unless this is some sort of an evil trick, it seems she has decided to enter the Attorney General Race. State Senator Tim Grendell of Chesterland and Franklin County Prosecutor Tim O'Brien have declared their intent to run for Ohio AG and on the Democratic side Subodh Chandra and State Senator Marc Dann are vying to be the next Ohio Attorney General.
Who this will help more as far as the Republican candidates for Governor. to me appears to be Petro. Tim Grendell said Monday that he tried to contact Montgomery after hearing the rumors that she was pull out of the race for Governor, but he never heard back from her. Grendell said the attorney general's office should not "be the consolation prize for someone who can't get enough votes to run for governor." He has been campaigning since May and is stating he feels he will win even with Montgomery in the race. I'm not sure about that, from a name recognition standpoint Montgomery appears at this point to have the edge. At least up here in our part of Ohio.
Questions that remain, who will Betty endorse if she decides to endorse, or will she not comment until the primary is over? Will I be right and will this help Petro more than Blackwell? Who else will join in the AG race?
Well as the day progresses, some of my questions have been answered, The Toledo Blade in covering this story adds:
Mr. Petro today plans to endorse Ms. Montgomery for attorney general, but she does not plan to make an endorsement in the governor’s race before the May 2 primary, Mr. Weaver said.
“She will let the race play out and let voters decide,’’ he said.
The Blade reports she left the race because:
Mark Weaver, Ms. Montgomery’s campaign spokesman, said polling done by the Montgomery campaign showed her trailing and indicated that she could only make up ground by repeatedly criticizing Mr. Blackwell and Mr. Petro.
“She does not want to do that. She is a loyal Republican and does not want to damage the party that way,’’ he said.
The Cleveland Plain Dealer has a different idea of why:
Columbus - A shortage of money and moderate voters persuaded Auditor Betty Montgomery to drop out of the Republican primary for governor and try to regain her old job as Ohio attorney general, sources said.
Blackwell's camp took the opportunity to suggest that Petro should drop out of the primary race:
Blackwell adviser Gene Pierce welcomed the news and used it to point out that Petro's running mate, Hamilton County Commissioner Phil Heimlich, dropped off the Petro ticket just last week.
"Phil Heimlich made a decision for the good of the party," Pierce said. "This week, Betty Montgomery is making a decision for the good of the party. Mr. Petro should follow suit and also help the party."
The Beacon Journal in an updated article states both money and not wanting to hurt the party as the reasons:
The three GOP candidates already had been critical one another, and Montgomery said the party infighting likely will get worse in the coming months before the May primary.
"I don't want to win that way," said Montgomery, who had tried to position herself as a moderate Republican who would lead responsibly.
But she trailed in fundraising and said the money raised by Blackwell and Petro allowed them to get their messages out and raise their profiles.
I'm not sure how I feel about these "for the good of the party" arguments. I can see a reason to avoid a primary race if there appears to be a major concensus that one candidate is preferred over the other. Yet who makes the determination of who "should" be the candidate is another factor of this. Leaving it up to the voters is the whole reason for a primary. If every race only had one person who wanted to run then why even have a primary system. We could just move right on to the "main event". I still feel those that state they are not going to run shouldn't but I think not many of us seem to focus on a person's ability to keep their word anymore.
It remains to be seen which Ohio primary race will take the prize in the "how low can we go" category. I have a feeling it will end up being either Blackwell V Petro or Brown V Hackett but it's early yet, so I reserve the right to change my mind, after all? That's the thing to do in Ohio!
:-)
7 comments:
As I was reading the quotes, oh how I wished that the candidates had said Ohio or Ohioans instead of "the party."
Rather, they chose to speak the awful truth...
Montgomery's "I don't want to win that way" is refreshing. It's too bad that the people who feel that way drop out instead of continuing to express themselves, their qualifications and their ideas while ignoring their opponents. If all sides could do that...I might start having faith that voters were being offered real choices.
Montgomery couldn't win the primary, so she drops out. All her words are just spin.
I think Blackwell v Petro will get the nastiest, if Petro stays in.
I agree, Frank.
Montgomery was so far behind in the polls that she had no hope. The "refreshing" comments were just an attempt to save face and political capital for the AG race.
I also do not see her as charismatic enough to win the governor's race. She is bright, but too wonkish. Also, does she have the energy for that job?
Also agreed that Blackwell vs. Petro will be very ugly. Both are trying to position themselves as the biggest, baddest neo-cons, while Strickland and Brown can waltz in looking like moderates.
I think the Republicans will kill each other off with this strategy, and a Democrat will win by default.
Blackwell/Petro. Talk about having to choose the lesser of two evils. Ugh.
That is a very good point Paul, but I'm not sure how much impact the blogs will have. It depends on how much of it will the traditional media pick up on. I haven't paid enough attention to the pro-Blackwell vs pro-Petro blogs though to see if things have the potential to heat up there too.
While I know we all hope for the best outcome, even if we disagree on what that best outcome will be? It's going to be an interesting time in Ohio. Hopefully all of them will remember that whatever they throw at their primary opponent the other party is going to use against them.
a pretty good roundup. thanks.
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