Today, Mark Naymik wrote a column defending Democratic AG candidate David Pepper. Its title reads “Attorney General candidate David Pepper’s parked-car issue hardly makes him an Ed FitzGerald”
The funny part? The Ohio Democratic Party actually tweeted the article out.
Ouch.
.@marknaymik: "Candidate for Ohio Attorney General @DavidPepper s under fire – from a lazy press corps" http://t.co/yHd19PQd4f
— Ohio Dems (@OHDems) August 22, 2014
They all but threw Ed Fitzgerald under the bus. By tweeting this article, they have conceded that Fitzgerald has become a disaster.
This is backed up by the exodus of his campaign staff, and several reports that the party is cutting their losses and focusing on trying to salvage a couple of wins in down ticket races.
The Fitzgerald campaign says they are going to run a “grassroots campaign”. Translation: Our candidate has imploded, we have next to no money to compete, and we are basically giving up.
Remember just two years ago after Obama was reelected, Ohio Dems were sure they were going to knock off Kasich in 2014. They even had pre-printed signs ready on election night.
“John Kasich will not run unopposed for the next two years. He just flat out won’t. We will challenge him every step of the way.”
I guess they meant every step of the way, except August, September and October.
UPDATE: Henry Gomez from NEOMG reports that what little money Fitzgerald has will be going to the ODP.
CLEVELAND, Ohio — Ed FitzGerald’s campaign for governor confirmed Friday what was speculated for days: That the beleaguered Democrat is altering his strategy in an attempt to ensure his troubles don’t doom his party’s entire statewide ticket.
But FitzGerald, the Cuyahoga County executive, also plans to mount a “competitive, vocal” challenge to Republican Gov. John Kasich, his press secretary said.
“We will be making a significant investment in [the Ohio Democratic Party’s] field and voter turnout program,” Lauren Hitt wrote in an email.
A “vocal” challenge? This means we almost surely will see very few, if any, Fitzgerald ads on television. They’re throwing in the towel on the governor’s race and attempting to salvage one or two races that they believe could still be competitive, most likely the treasurer’s and auditor’s races.
It’s a Hail Mary to try to avoid getting swept again like four years ago.
I’m doubtful that this will work. President Obama is already near record-low approval. And now the top of their ticket has been exposed to be…well…what we’ve been telling you for over a year.
Democratic turnout is going to suck in Ohio.
Note. I originally credited Brent Larkin as the author of the article. In fact, it is Mark Naymik. My apologies for the mistake.
