From the Middleton-Journal

Secretary of State Ken Blackwell easily emerged from the May 2 primary as the Republican nominee for Ohio governor, knocking off his party’s other candidate, Attorney General Jim Petro.

However, in the final weeks of the primary campaign, the Blackwell camp realized its candidate had a serious problem going into the November election — besides Ted Strickland, his Democratic opponent.

The albatross around Blackwell’s neck was his own Tax and Expenditure Limitation (TEL), a proposed constitutional amendment. The initiative, championed by Blackwell, is intended to limit the growth of state spending by writing restraints into the state’s constitution — a dubious idea to begin with — and is scheduled to be on the November ballot, too.

From OFCC

OFCC's Bryan Torok and Daniel White attended the 2nd Annual Spring Open House for the Cuyahoga Republican Party to listen to a speech by Ohio Gubernatorial candidate, and OFCC endorsee, Ken Blackwell. He spoke about his plans for leading Ohio to a bright future in front of a packed room in the downtown Cleveland GOP headquarters.

Afterwards, Blackwell took a few minutes to speak with Bryan and Dan about the future of substitute House Bill 347, and listened to our concerns about rumors the bill is being intentionally stalled in the Senate.

Cross-posted at Lincoln Logs

I have been on a slow burn since Friday when it became clear that not even 24 complete hours would pass before the guessing game about Auditor of State and Attorney General's race started.

Folks, before I get to the facts of the matter, can I just suggest that allowing someone a few days in intensive care before we start the vulture-like game of guessing the future shouldn't be unreasonable. We all knew immediately that the Guillian-Barre Syndrome would require a bit of time for treatment before rehab could be measured, but there has been no patience in the media or blogosphere to allow this to take its proper course.

I think Dave Skolnick at the Youngstown Vindicator has done a fair job covering the OH-6 race between Chuck Blasdel and Fluffy [Charlie Wilson], but the story about Montgomery suggesting that some scheme is in the making with Jim Petro is both irresponsible and considering the current situation it is also pretty insensitive.

I feel confident saying the following - Betty Montgomery will fully recover. Betty Montgomery is strong and will be able to handle the riggers of both campaigning and holding office as she rehabilitates. No discussions between Betty Montgomery and others have taken place regarding the Auditor of State's office or the campaign for Attorney General, nor does Montgomery intend to cede her duties in either the Auditor of State's office or on the campaign trail.

Matter-of-fact, the suggestion that being in the hospital means the Auditor of State job cannot be done is crazy. Officeholders are not on site often. Speaking of the Vindicator's palm reading specifically, it is interesting to note where Jim Petro is right now... I understand that the Attorney General's Office is operating without him on site.

The story is interesting in its construction. Jen Detwiler, Montgomery's spokesperson in the Auditor's office, says in as many different ways as possible that Montgomery isn't backing down, that she is functioning from the hospital, and that full recovery is expected. After all that, Skolnick still goes through with the guessing game.

I hope Jim Petro gets back into public service, I really do, but it is important that we don't create allusions where nothing concrete exists. It is also important to remember that Betty Montgomery has faced tough fights before, and she will bring the same dogged determination to her rehabilitation that has made her a strong leader in Ohio.