Why does a Steele victory in Democratic Maryland look more and more like a possibility while a Blackwell victory in Republican Ohio--while still not impossible in my view--looks more like a wish than a prediction? Adam Schaeffer offers an excellent explanation of the difference. It has to do, sadly, with the way Blackwell did not run his campaign; i.e., not distancing himself enough from the Ohio GOP establishment and running aggressively as himself. Some months back Schaeffer had made the case that the situation would be exactly reversed as between Blackwell and Steele. Perhaps Steele read that article and took it to heart?
Steele is moderate and a maverick. Blackwell both is and is perceived as a wild conservative too far right for anywhere but UT. Nuff said.
Julie,
Your link didnt work, so here it is again.
Adam Schaeffer makes good points, but I wonder whether Blackwell would have had to run a penniless campaign had he not compromised with the Tafties. Anyone here know?
Blackwell, unlike Steele, has been unlucky enough to run in a state where the Republicans have been in power for a long time and where theyve made a mess of things. I dont know what more he could have done to distance himself from the statehouse crowd -- its what he did in the primary. It might have been possible, but tricky, to have tried to make corruption his issue. Doing that persuasively running as a Republican would have been not impossible, but just about that.