Dispatch:
The new congressional districts are not yet a lock, but in one stretch of southwestern Ohio, incumbent congressmen Mike Turner of Centerville and Steve Austria of Beavercreek are already sparring as if a heated Republican primary race in their newly drawn district is a given....
....The two lawmakers have been busy lining up supporters and raising money for an anticipated June primary. Each is claiming he would be the best protector of Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, the largest single-site employer in Ohio. And both have begun lobbing sharp barbs at one another.
Turner, first elected in 2002, said that Austria has been an “echo’’ in mimicking initiatives that Turner launched. And in a very conservative district, Austria, first elected in 2008, said he is the true conservative while Turner is more liberal than he....
Both Mike Turner and Steve Austria voted for the Paul Ryan budget plan (see NYTimes) which sought to privatize Medicare and lower corporate tax cuts (see Washington Post).
>>>> Just when you thought the Josh Mandel had already declared himself the winner of the Republican nomination for U.S. Senate, there is word that someone else is vying for attention.
PRweb:
U.S. Senate Candidate Donna Glisman has issued a challenge to Ohio Treasurer, and potential candidate Josh Mandel to “Step up or step aside.” The statement on her website comes in response to the media portrayal of Mandel as if he has already won the nomination without any primary challengers. Such reports have gone beyond merely a failure to acknowledge Donna, and have become a blatant exclusion of her candidacy. Yet, until Mandel officially declares he is running, and files nominating petitions with the Secretary of State, he cannot appear on the primary ballot. Glisman wants to know if Mandel is serious about running against her, if not he needs to back away from the spotlight and not further confuse the voters.
Glisman, who has been campaigning statewide for the nomination since June, filed her nominating petitions to appear on the March ballot on November 23rd, 2011. Whereas State Treasurer Mandel, who created an exploratory committee last spring, and since raised considerable funds, has yet to officially declare a run. Mandel does not have a Senate campaign website nor has he filed the required 1,000 signatures to appear on the ballot, which are due no later than December 7th, 2011.....
* The Nation has a terrific article online, The Nastiness of Newt.
The Nation:
It figured that a Republican presidential primary race defined by nothing so much as a taste for cruel and unusual politics would eventually see Newt Gingrich emerge as the cruelest and most unusual contender. Sure, Michele Bachmann, Rick Perry and Herman Cain might strive for the lowest common denominator. But Gingrich would outdo them in that department, despite heroic feats of insanity, stupidity and sex scandals by the other three. And so he has, emerging as the default choice of a new breed of Republican so extreme it would scare the bejeezus out of Barry Goldwater or Ronald Reagan.....
You wonder what Republicans of the past would say to these far right candidates today.
