Apparently losing your 2nd campaign manager can lead to some really odd behavior.
Just ask Lee Fisher.
From the Rob Portman campaign:
Lt. Gov. Fisher today began his remarks to the Ohio Hospital Association by apologizing for arriving late. After supposedly misreading the invitation, Lt. Gov. Fisher said he went to the Hyatt on Capitol Square where he was directed by front-desk staff to head “up the stairs and to the right” for the OHA luncheon. After seating himself and enjoying a chicken lunch, Lt. Gov. Fisher said he inquired of the woman seated next to him when he was scheduled to speak. After being told he wasn’t on the program and finding that an unfair advantage to his opponent, Lt. Gov. Fisher said he learned he had actually wandered into a luncheon for the “Ohio Pesticide Association.” Lt. Gov. Fisher said he proceeded to deliver the keynote address and was endorsed by the group.
A quick check of the Hyatt on Capitol Square as well as other Columbus-areas hotels shows no scheduled events for an “Ohio Pesticide Association” and in fact, no such group exists.
What’s even more strange is that the story is entirely too similar to another one he told back in 2008.
When Ohio Lt. Gov. Lee Fisher stopped Wednesday morning at the front desk of the Hampton Inn in Austinburg, he informed the clerk he was there to speak at the Profiles Breakfast.
“Down the hall on the right,” the clerk said.
Fisher poured himself some coffee and started to eat a breakfast much like the one being served at the Profiles Breakfast in the Blue and Gold Room at Kent State University-Ashtabula, where a crowd was gathering to hear Fisher speak.
Back at the Hampton Inn, Fisher wondered why he didn’t see Joe Mayernick, executive director of Growth Partnership, or the county commissioners.
“Then, a woman came up to me and said, ‘Who are you?’” Fisher said, noting it happens all the time to the lieutenant governor.
The standing-room-only crowd at KSU-Ashtabula laughed as Fisher continued on with the story. Come to find out, Fisher was about to address the Northeast Ohio Pesticide Association at the Hampton Inn, and he quickly drove to KSU-Ashtabula. The out-of-the-way stop made him only a few minutes late for the Profiles Breakfast, sponsored by Growth Partnership for Ashtabula County and KSU-Ashtabula.
This is all in addition to other times that Fisher has lied to the press or told odd stories about his whereabouts.
For a guy who has run for statewide office approximately 279 times, he’s pretty bad at this.
UPDATE: An anonymous commenter says this was a joke. First off, if so, what an incredibly odd and bad joke. I can’t even find the punch line. Second, ok maybe I found it, it’s called Lee Fisher’s campaign.
