The 2014 race for Governor of Ohio

Politics & Elections
21

A fairly minor offense as these things go, but calling it a Republican smear campaign is foolish. A smear campaign is when they lie about you. If they dig up dirt on you and find some true stuff that’s not really all that bad, apologize for your indiscretions and be grateful that you’re otherwise so awesome.

He still has a sterling resume and might be the most qualified challenger running for governor in any state. If the worst he’s ever done is violate the terms of his learners permit I think he’ll be okay.

22

Brent Larkin of the Plain Dealer says the race is over - an overstatement, but still sobering for any Ohio Dem: Ed FitzGerald's campaign is over except for the epitaph, but he may take down the rest of the ticket, too: Brent Larkin - cleveland.com

23

I didn’t know he’d had to jettison his LT. Gov candidate. Ouch.

24

Still time for him to withdraw in favor of a non-crippled replacement candidate - any guesses who that might be? Cordray?

25

Any replacement candidate would be crippled by virtue of being a replacement candidate. Better to stay the course.

26

It doesn’t help, sure, but it’s less embarrassing and less damaging for the party if the scandal-free replacement does lose anyway. Plus, if the partisan tide is with him, one can actually win.

27

That seems like a bad idea to me. Fitzgerald is still the candidate he was, he’s just had a tough campaign. And how is driving without a full license a huge scandal? Is it the other woman?

28

Most importantly, I don’t want you guys to get the impression that if adaher says nice things about a Democrat then you should start worrying.

29

He’s still the *person *he was, but he’s not the same candidate. That’s a creation *both *of the person *and *of how he campaigns and is perceived by the electorate.

What matters is what happens to his support. Now that he can’t nearly as credibly claim to be in favor of the law, or of respecting women, down go the numbers - and *that *is what matters.

30

nm

31

Mentioned in the OP.

I think Elvis is right. A key selling point was his squeaky-clean, law-and-order image, and that’s taken some hits. I don’t think he’s doomed, and doubt any replacement candidate could do any better in November, but the odds of him winning, already long, have gotten even longer.

32

The selling point for me was his performance in office. Character matters, but to me it matters in how it affects the performance of his duties. Bill Clinton was all kinds of pathological in his personal life, but it never got in the way of him doing his job. Other politicians have impeccable personal lives, but play the politics game as unethically and dishonestly as they can get away with. Fitzgerald seems to me to be more in the Clinton camp, and not even close to Clinton’s level of problematic behavior.

33

Another PD columnist on the flap: Ed FitzGerald's driving history will continue to haunt his race for governor: Phillip Morris - cleveland.com

34

Just got this email from the FitzG. campaign:

*This week, our family dealt with an ongoing challenge, but it’s not the one you probably heard about. It wasn’t about personal attacks, or personal mistakes, or gutter politics.

While the political world, as usual, was focused on that kind of thing, we were focused on our oldest son, Jack. As some of you know, four years ago, Jack was diagnosed with Non-Hodgkins Lymphoma. After going through chemotherapy during his senior year in high school, Jack was declared cancer-free, and we began the “waiting game” that so many families experience – hoping that there would be no recurrence of the cancer.

He recently had some symptoms that had us concerned, so yesterday we had one of our periodic checkups, and so far everything seems fine. We’re lucky that we’ve had such excellent, compassionate medical care. And in a way, we’re lucky that this has helped our family put the political games of the last week in perspective. While the rest of the political establishment was talking about drivers’ licenses, our focus was right where it belonged – on our family.

We’re not looking for sympathy; lots of families have gone through the same or worse. But it’s helped us learn a lesson: that whatever is thrown at the FitzGerald family – personal, political, medical, whatever – we’re going to survive and just get stronger as a family unit. Nothing – nothing – will ever change that, whether we have support from millions of Ohioans, or whether we’re on our own.

This campaign was launched for all the right reasons. As much as we care about our family, we know that you care about yours just as much. We want a state government that reflects those values – quality education, good paying jobs, excellent medical care, and support for struggling families. But we won’t get there if we don’t focus on what really matters, and that’s what we’ll be focusing on again, beginning tomorrow. (Today we have a family birthday celebration, so we are taking a day off from campaigning.)

Thank you to all of you who have offered support, friendship, and prayers. Our family is strong, and getting stronger. We hope yours is too.

Ed and Shannon FitzGerald*

35

Pretty desperate ploy.

36

The PD’s ombudsman on its coverage of Fitz’s recent difficulties: The story's the story, no matter where it came from: Ted Diadiun - cleveland.com

37

A slightly more upbeat assessment from the Columbus Dispatch: http://www.dispatch.com/content/stories/local/2014/08/10/dems-fitzgerald-still-has-chance.html

38

The PD on Fitz’s eight big mistakes: 8 decisions that will haunt Ed FitzGerald - cleveland.com

39

Ouch.

40

More ouchies. Here’s The Washington Post on Fitz’s implosion: http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/the-fix/wp/2014/08/26/the-remarkable-implosion-of-ed-fitzgerald/?tid=pm_politics_pop