The AP:

Ohio Democratic Party spokesman Brian Rothenberg repeated the party's mantra of the cuts being "election-year gimmicks" designed to help Blackwell, the secretary of state, in what's shaping up as a tough campaign for governor.

Rothenberg, though, also accused Taft of undercutting Blackwell and House Speaker Jon Husted, a suburban Dayton Republican, by laying claim to the state surplus and leaving House Republicans scrambling for a way to pay for the capital gains cuts, which Blackwell supports. It leaves Husted and the Republicans in a bind, Rothenberg said.

"The governor kind of thumbed his nose at them," he said Friday.

...Rothenberg's comments show that Democrats don't understand how tax cuts help the economy, said Carlo LoParo, campaign spokesman for Blackwell, who gave his support to Taft's plan Friday.

"That's a perfect example of why the Ohio Democratic Party is the minority party in state politics," LoParo said.

LoParo is right, of course, but I'm not sure what the Democrats expect us to believe. Did Taft thumb his nose at Blackwell or did he put together some "gimmick" to help him? He can't have it both ways, I mean, it's not like he's Ted Strickland.

It sounds to me like the liberals are trying to line their rhetoric up on both sides of the ball, probably because they don't know which way it's going to roll.

From the Dayton Daily News

"This is going to be a choice between somebody who understands tax policy and how to get tax relief and economic growth versus somebody who couldn't find his way to a hot-dog stand if it wasn't for the cafeteria line in the congressional lunchroom," said Blackwell, 58, the Ohio secretary of state.

He also emphasizes the need to curb what he calls "lawsuit abuse" and reducing government regulations to align Ohio's rules more with the federal government's, but his plans for cutting taxes are the most specific.

Moving to a lower, flat rate for the personal income tax is important for families and small businesses, Blackwell said. Most of these businesses are not organized as corporations, so their owners have been paying the personal income tax rather than the corporate franchise tax.

His flat tax, then, "becomes an invitation for investment and reinvestment by small-business owners," Blackwell said.

Because capital gains are treated as income, flattening the rate also would help investors, he said.

Sounds like a winning plan.

Um, OK?

From The Huffington Post:

My husband, U.S. Rep. Sherrod Brown, is running for the Senate, but it can feel like he's about to march into battle as I answer the same question, day in and day out, across the state of Ohio.

"Aren't you afraid?" people ask, usually before Sherrod gives a speech or I show up on his behalf.

"Aren't you afraid of what they can do to you?"

Every time we hear this question, we see what a chokehold the politics of fear can have on so many decent people - from university professors to small-town farmers, from stay-at-home mothers to corporate executives. They want to believe in fair elections and a campaign of ideas, but they can see what's coming by who's already laid tracks in this bellwether state.

So far, President Bush has shown up twice in Ohio to raise money for Sherrod's opponent. Vice President Cheney and Karl Rove, the mastermind of some of the nastiest campaigns in recent history, have made high-profile visits here. Ohio Secretary of State Kenneth Blackwell is pulling out one hat trick after another to impede voter registration -- even as he runs for governor.

So, it's not hard to understand why so many Ohioans have nervously pulled us aside or stood bravely in a crowded room to ask if we're scared of what "they" can do to us.

We are unequivocal in our response:

We are not afraid.

I knew that Congressman Brown is a little, well, "special," but who knew that his woman was too?

And while we're at it, I thought that Ken Blackwell was running for governor? Would somebody please inform the Browns that they are running against Mike DeWine and Jennifer Brunner that she's running against Greg Hartmann?

Carlo LoParo, Ken Blackwell's campaign spokesman, recently referred to Jennifer Brunner as "a walking conspiracy theory."

I think it's catching!