Comments on: Ganley announces for open Ohio Senate seat against Portman

By: amigag

amigag — Thu, 02 Jul 2009 16:19:33 +0000

He is from Cuyahoga County, not sure what District. However, if he is so concerned, he could try running for an Ohio House seat. There are 13 House
seats in that County, 10 Democrats & 3 Republican. My initial gut feeling?
He’s a Democrat trying to split the vote. Just from some fast reading of Ohio
papers, not favorable. An article was dated April 2009 in the Cleveland Plain
Dealer blog about this. I’ll add to this after I find more about him. IMO, no.
Also, if he’s serious, there is plenty to clean up in Cuyahoga County & that is
where he needs to start. Big ego, if you ask me.

By: Oz

Oz — Wed, 01 Jul 2009 23:19:29 +0000

Well, it worked for Franken.

I don’t think this approach is that far fetched. All he has to do is point at Portmann and say that he is part of the congress with a 16% approval rating.

Not sure if that is a great strategy, but it is a strategy.

My bigger concern with newbies is what is in the closet waiting to be exposed. Of course, Sanford has shown us that you don’t have to be a newbie to have skeletons in the closet.

By: IJB

IJB — Wed, 01 Jul 2009 22:15:14 +0000

…And doesn’t much change the overall flow of either primary or the general election in OH.

And I agree – for a novice to launch a campaign like this, it’s generally best if they latch on to *one* overriding issue (e.g. “I will reverse all of the bailouts that have been passed!”) than a more diffuse ‘anti-Washington’ campaign. It’s generally not enough to say you’re “against Washington” – you usually have to be pretty specific on *how* you intend to change the place.

I just don’t see this guy gaining much traction with a GOP electorate that is hungry to shut Obama’s agenda down.

I’m not saying Portman is the perfect candidate – but he’s certainly no Crist (or Specter!), and I suspect most OH GOP Republicans will feel that Portman has a much better shot at being an effective thorn in Obama’s side.

I don’t see this Ganley guy really going anywhere in this environment…

By: Kyle-MI

Kyle-MI — Wed, 01 Jul 2009 21:57:34 +0000

Besides the political career, how does he differ from Portman?
Why is he dissatisfied with the Portman candidacy?