CQPolitics has the story:Democratic strategists targeted dozens of Republican-held districts in their successful 2006 campaign effort to win control of the House — but Ohio’s 16th District wasn’t one of them. Republican Rep. Ralph Regula, bidding for an 18th term, was as usual an overwhelming favorite in a GOP-leaning district that includes Canton.Of course, Democrats won a number of seats because of Republicans not acting like Republicans. A number of Republicans failed to secure their "normal" vote totals for the same reason. Another factor that Democrats ought to consider is the Taft Effect...Ohioans were really sick and tired of the status quo and a good number of Republicans just sat it out.
Yet Regula turned in a lackluster performance with 58 percent of the vote, about 9 percentage points less than his 2004 vote share. And what really caught the attention of Democrats planning for the 2008 round of House elections was that Regula — a senior member of the House Appropriations Committee — was held to a career low for re-election by Democrat Thomas Shaw, a political unknown who did not even raise enough money to file campaign reports with the Federal Election Commission (FEC).
Fortunately, for the Ohio GOP, it looks like Democrats are going to keep going back to the well of 2006 for their campaign rhetoric:
Determined to make a much more aggressive effort to challenge Regula in next year’s campaign, Democratic officials are lining up early behind the prospective candidacy of state Sen. John Boccieri, who told CQPolitics.com on Monday that he is “highly likely” to run in the 16th. While he declined in the interview to formally declare, Boccieri left no doubt that he is planning a bid and said he would announce his decision in the next week or two.Note to Democrats: Keep on thinking that Republicans lost because of Bush...I love that one!
“It’s time for a change,” Boccieri said, echoing a theme that Democrats employed to success in the 2006 election, when they overturned Republican majorities in the House and the Senate by tying them to an unpopular Bush administration.
“I believe the country has spoken with respect to its desire for change,” Boccieri said. “In the event that I do decide to run, that’s what my message will be about.”
