Monty Out of Gov Race

Betty Montgomery, State Auditor, has withdrawn from the governor's race, leaving Ken Blackwell and Jim Petro in the hunt for the GOP nomination.  This is a big blow to the moderate GOP in Ohio.  Ohio once contained a moderate GOP, in case you forgot.  Taft (though he is disgraced), DeWine, and Voinovich to name a few are not right wing republicans.  I disagree with them, but they are not out to establish a theocracy, and they generally only appease the right wing extremes when they have too.  Monty's poor showing indicates either that the GOP in Ohio are totally run and controlled by the religious fundamentalists, assuming Jim Petro can't pull a comeback and win, or that so many of the party don't give a crap, and are leaving the party for GDI territory. (God Damn Independents for the ignorant).

I don't think Ken Blackwell can win as governor if he keeps up being the theocratic movement's lapdog.  I will qualify this with the fact that a large number of people are really ignorant and even though they would disagree with him on 90% of the issues he is pushing, they will vote for him because of “1” thing.  That “1” thing is something different to various voter types and individuals, but the one thing that I fear that is becoming more of an influence on the voter is peer pressure.  If you don't vote as your neighbor does, you might not be welcome anymore at the neighborhood picnic.  This is just a symptom of the polarization and sectarian nature of politics today.