The Good Guys Win Again

There was a closely contested congressional race decided today in Ohio's 2nd district. For forty years this has been a safe Republican district, but the Dems put up an Iraq war vet who was very critical of President Bush, probably too critical as it turns out to win over the heavily Republican district. His campaign ads could have been produced by a Republican as he attempted to position himself as less liberal than he really is, something which many other Dems will be trying, and to no avail, next year. At the same time he was calling Bush a "chicken hawk" and making other derogatory statements about the President, a conflict of styles that the voters resolved by electing the Republican.

The DNC poored a lot of money into this race and even though the Dem lost, I'm sure the DNC will try to spin this as a great victory since their guy kept the race close. However, I doubt this race will portend anything for 2006. There's way too much time between now and November of next year for this race to mean anything in the big picture of things.

This seat came open when Rep. Rob Portman was appointed U.S. Trade Representative.