CQ Politics has a story today that I think is worth taking a deeper look at... The story is about OH-18 and Zack Space, but I think there is a lesson here for OH-02 (and maybe the Butler County GOP as well...?).CQ rates the race as "leaning Democratic" which is pretty amazing for such a "Republican district." "Republican district"...where have I heard that before? If you are thinking OH-02, you would be right... How many times have we heard that if "we" could just get Jean Schmidt out for a term, "we" would win back the seat in the next cycle.
Let's take a look at how that strategy is shaping up in OH-18:
Space, though, understands his vulnerability in a Republican district. He has been fundraising nonstop since the start of the 110th Congress. As of the end of September, Space had $817,000 in his campaign fund — considerably more than his Republican competitors.Granted, OH-02 has Cincinnati as a media market...but does anybody think this district is getting redder? And really, we have to take a look at what happened in '06 and ask if any lessons have been learned. How many R's from Ohio have retired? How deep, and, more importantly, how experienced is our bench here?
So far, three Republicans are vying for the chance to oppose Space. They include Fred Dailey, a former state agriculture director; Paul Phillips, an attorney and former Marine pilot; and Jeannette Moll, an attorney at the Guernsey County Common Pleas Court. Dailey reported raising $72,000 by the end of September, compared with $65,000 for Phillips and $56,000 for Moll.
With the March 4 Republican primary just three months away, Democratic strategists scoff at the notion that the eventual GOP nominee will have enough money to challenge Space. In the sprawling 18th, where the largest city, Zanesville, has but 25,000 residents, it is difficult for candidates to build name recognition because the district lacks a large media market.
None of these districts "belong" to Republicans or Democrats...we have to fight for each and every one of them. And we ought to be approaching each and every race with that mentality. We can't afford to keep putting up the same old same old...when a situation arises where somebody goes, we need to put in somebody who can get the job done and isn't afraid to stand up for Republican principles. But if we are in a situation where we are getting a decent performance -- even if not a perfect performance -- then we shouldn't play games just because "we" think we "own" the district. Voters are fickle like that...and the demographics continue to change.
