The Blackwell Effect?

From ONNnews.com

Gov. Bob Taft signed a bill Monday that kills a ballot issue some saw as the biggest hurdle to his party's candidate for governor.

The bill limiting state spending was fashioned by the GOP-controlled Legislature as a substitute for Republican nominee Kenneth Blackwell's increasingly unpopular government-limiting issue that was slated for the Nov. 7 ballot.

Republican leaders feared the issue would drag down Blackwell - and candidates further down the ticket - against Democratic nominee Ted Strickland.

Democrats have their best chance in more than a decade to take control of the bellwether state engulfed in Republican scandal.

After resisting similar caps for years, lawmakers took less than a week to craft and approve the restrictions, and to adjust state statutes to assure Blackwell's amendment could legally be withdrawn.