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Tea Party names candidate to battle DeWine for GOP nomination

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By William Hershey, Columbus Bureau Updated 11:23 PM Monday, February 8, 2010

COLUMBUS — The Tea Party movement has produced a candidate to oppose former U.S. Sen. Mike DeWine as the Republican candidate for attorney general.

Attorney Steve Christopher, a founding member of the Hardin County Tea Party, on Monday, Feb. 8, announced that he would take on De- Wine for the GOP nomination to run against Democratic incumbent Richard Cordray.

“To be honest, I feel like the moderates and conservatives need to have at least one candidate for attorney general who’s not a professional politician and a liberal, which De-Wine and Cordray both are,” said Christopher, 51.

He resides in Hardin County where he is a township trustee and has law offices in Kenton in Hardin County and Findlay in Hancock County.

The theme of his campaign, said Christopher, will be “we need a conservative on the ballot, someone who understands the constitution.” He said he objected to positions DeWine had taken on guns and other issues.

DeWine, who has come under attack from Tea Party backers as not conservative enough, said he expected primary opposition. He said he has a conservative record, including help for small businesses to create jobs.

“I expect to be the nominee,” DeWine, of Cedarville, said.

The announcement is the latest development spurred at least in part by incumbent Republican Auditor Mary Taylor’s decision to join GOP gubernatorial candidate John Kasich as his lieutenant governor running mate.

Delaware County prosecutor Dave Yost, who had been running against DeWine for the attorney general nomination, jumped into the auditor’s race at the request of state Republican Chairman Kevin DeWine, Mike DeWine’s second cousin.

A GOP primary for auditor now seems likely between Yost and state Rep. Seth Morgan, R-Huber Heights.

Republicans also face a primary in the secretary of state race between Sen. Jon Husted, R-Kettering, and former Ashtabula County Auditor Sandra O’Brien.

Kevin DeWine said he had never heard of Christopher, but took the trio of statewide primaries in stride.

“I’m confident that Republican voters are capable of choosing winners,” he said in an e-mail. “And we’ll give Ohioans the strongest statewide ticket that they’ve seen from our party in better than a generation.”

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By the way, I personally don't know why so many people seem to think the literacy test issue is a good rallying point.

Even if it's proposed in an anti-Obama manner, as that angry guy asserts, there is a basic underlying assumption that Obama voters are illiterate. That is a false premise, just like the premise that illiteracy is a Black thing.

It's not about race, and it's not about class.
At least it shouldn't be.

It should be about bringing everyone UP to a better level, not down.

logicFTW
10:25 AM, 2/10/2010

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And as for the Bills being written in "common vernacular"?

For one thing, there is a reason for Bills and Laws being written in "legalese": it ensures that the legal understanding is consistent. (OK, that's a simplification.)

And every Ballot already has the proposed Law written in "common vernacular". The Ballot language is always approved by the Ohio Secretary of State as part of the process for getting the Issue on the Ballot in the first place.

Nice try, though.

logicFTW
10:22 AM, 2/10/2010

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Starry,
Switching the issue from racism to classism is still indicative of a weak position.

Isn't literacy a worthy goal for our society?

The schools now are required to give proficiency tests in order to pass the students, aren't they?
Is that racist or classist to do that?

Why, then, should it be a problem to ensure literacy when registering voters?

And if the schools did what they are supposed to, the point would be completely moot.

LogicFTW
9:51 AM, 2/10/2010

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@ logic- Of course illiteracy is not limited to any race or color. However, poor people white and black have been systemically stripped of rights for hundreds of years by rich white dudes. THIS is a fact. One solution to the problem of whether people understand what they are voting for is making sure that bills are written in common vernacular as well, instead of strict legalese, which I doubt MOST people truly understand. EVERYONE should be able to vote and understand wtf they are voting for!

starry dawn
7:24 PM, 2/9/2010

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And if the education system hadn't been such a dismal failure, the literacy point would be moot, wouldn't it?

Time for me to head out into the snow. Thanks for burning through my afternoon. It was entertaining.

logicFTW
5:43 PM, 2/9/2010

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