Kasich Gets It

Tip o' the Hat to Columbus TownHall...

Check out this stinging rebuke of the Ohio Republican Party in the Opinion Journal by John Kasich.

With Gov. Taft's ratings running as low as 16% approval in one poll, and with charges of corruption and cronyism rampant throughout the party, Ohio Republicans face some pretty tough obstacles in this year's elections. Add to this broken campaign promises that resulted in the highest tax increase in Ohio history, an exodus of the state's young people to pursue opportunity elsewhere, the general trend against Republicans nationally, and the complete ineptness of Republican leaders to enunciate any kind of bold political initiatives--and you have the makings of a Democrat sweep this November.

The biggest advantage going for Republicans, in purely electoral terms, is the ineptness of the Democrats. They have a long tradition of turning sure things into might-have-beens. This, however, is simply not enough. Democratic incompetence has led to Republican domination, which, with no effective opposition, has untethered the GOP from its first principles. In the absence of these, corruption has reigned. The political lens might be clouded and growing darker; but Ohio Republicans need to decide whether or not they want to stand for something.

The most important part preceded the above material:

Yet the debate between the moderate and conservative wings of Ohio's Republican Party goes beyond Messrs. Petro and Blackwell. Some conservatives are angry at Sen. DeWine, and are threatening to withhold support, largely because he joined forces with the "gang of 14" to end the judicial filibuster spat last spring. Ironically, two of Mr. Bush's most conservative nominees to the federal bench, Priscilla Owens and Janice Rogers Brown, would not have been confirmed without this agreement, and arguably Justices John Roberts and Samuel Alito would have faced filibusters from Senate liberals opposed to their nominations. Nonetheless, his relationship with some conservatives has worsened.

Of course, some people seem to think I have no idea what I'm talking about and that all this displeasure at DeWine on display is not happening... Kasich gets it. He sees what I see. I see a two-term senator who has managed to side with Democrats on some ofthe most important issues we face. If it weren't for the War on Terror, DeWine would have abandoned the most important issues that Republicans have championed.

Where is DeWine on immigration? He's with Ted "Hero of Chappaquiddick" Kennedy.

Where is DeWine on Judges? He's with the Gang of 14. While we managed to get two fantastic judges on to the Supreme Court, this compromise managed to stall out a significant number of qualified candidates for the federal bench. America and Ohio wanted that fight. That's why we elected George W. Bush to be President of the United States. DeWine decided he'd rather not take on the challenge...

Where is DeWine on ANWR? He's against tapping one of our own supplies of oil. He'll be screaming about reducing dependence on foreign oil while consistently standing in the way of drilling in our own country.

Out of control spending? Check. Digital converter boxes...that's what we need to be spending our chilfren's money on while operating a $9 trillion deficit.

Absurd government regulations? You betcha. I mean, milk subsidies, come on now.

DeWine does not represent conservative Republican values and principles.

But he does bring home the bacon...I mean pork.....