General
Blackwell attacks Taft, Petro with scathing ads
PD:
Bennett strongly denounced the ads in a statement released by his office:”The race for governor should be a contest of ideas, not smear tactics and attack ads,” he said. “I expect this kind of negative campaigning from the Democrats, but Ken Blackwell should have a better strategy for winning this primary than simply burning down the house.
“A man who models himself after Ronald Reagan should have a little more respect for winning on ideas and vision. He knows the accusations in these ads are politically motivated, and this kind of guttural [gutter] politics doesn’t win votes. If we can’t win with substantive ideas for leading Ohio, we don’t belong in the race.”
Absolutely true, but Bennett is implying that Blackwell has done nothing but negative campaigning. On the contrary, Blackwell is the only guy with fresh ideas in the primary. So that’s not the problem.
Blackwell’s ads hit Petro in his political solar plexus, blasting him on the two character traits the former Cuyahoga County commissioner has long considered his defining attributes — honesty and integrity.
Classic politics. Attack where the opponent is vulnerable. And it’s a double whammy if you take down a position that the opponent has spent time and money building up. With the FBI probe, Petro is very vulnerable here.
I’m a big fan of negative campaigning as long as the facts presented are both true and relevant. This is especially true for the GOP who often can’t get a fair shake in the media. Blackwells ads pass both tests easily. I have no problem here. One of the reasons we have primaries is to expose weaknesses and pick the stronger candidate. This is just part of that process. And it makes good blog material. Win-win all around, I say.
OK that all being said, Mr. Wendling, the author of this article needs to tone down his language in this article:
In recent weeks, Petro has turned the other cheek, asking Blackwell to debate ideas and refrain from personal attacks. Instead, Blackwell has slapped him silly.
Long knives? Slapped Him Silly? I’ll give Mr. Wendling the benefit of the doubt on his biases, but his use of words is over-the-top dramatic and inappropriate for a journalist.
UPDATE:
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Discussion
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Winds of Change - Blackwell Stops in Allen County…
Governor candidate Ken Blackwell added a stop in Allen County to hold a press conference. The theme of the campaign is “Winds of Change”. In light of Petro’s probe and ties to Householder have sparked a determined Blackwell to point …
Hilarious that his ‘wings of change’ running mate was closely tied to Householder (interesting he was left out of the ads…), voted for all of the tax increases Blackwell has condemned, and supported Petro up until he was ‘tapped’.
Blackwell has been a sinking ship for weeks. As his own campaign manager, Gene Pierce, so eloquently said:
“When you’re behind and you’re fading, you get desperate and go negative.”‘
Well said, Gene.
I mean say what you will about Blackwell (im not defending the ad or supporting it) but the ad will likely work wonders. One has to think Petro is as good as gone pretty soon from this race.