Brinkman Endorses McEwen; Fmr. Congressman Returns the Favor

State Rep. Tom Brinkman (R-Mount Lookout) formally endorsed the candidacy of Former Rep. Bob McEwen for Congress in OH-02 in the Republican primary against incumbent Rep. Jean Schmidt (R-Loveland). Brinkman said, "“It’s more important that we restore integrity and honor to that office than that I become a congressman." He also indicated that either he or McEwen could beat Schmidt in the GOP Primary but in a three-way race, Schmidt would most likely claim a narrow victory, much like the special election primary of last summer. McEwen returned the endorsement afvor by signing Brinkman's petition to run for re-election as state representative.

Commentary: Here's hoping to a McEwen victory. Schmidt has brought on a lot of unnecessary attention and her comments on the House floor concerning Rep. Jack Murtha were political story for about a week. It's not so much that I find her comments so terrible, just perhaps rude. Then again, her comments were no more rude than Congressional Democrats were during the State of the Union Address. But McEwen is much more of a gentlemanly figure with many contacts in DC, and respect from the conservative community. In other words, he's less of a political liability. And let's drop the House checking scandal of over a decade ago. This race is not about political differences or public policy positions, as I'm sure both Schmidt and McEwen would be hard-pressed to point out any significant differences in their stances. Rather than policy, the Schmidt vs. McEwen race will be about temperment. What's ironic in all of this, however, is Tom Brinkman's apparent disdain for Jean Schmidt. He speaks of the desire to restore "honor and dignity" to OH-02 by supporting McEwen, but the whole controversey that made Schmidt so vulnerable concerning Jack Murtha (D-PA) was actually based on a note written by none other than everyone's favorite state representative, Schmidt protege, and co-sponsor of HB 515 (see below) with Brinkman, Danny Bubp. If Schmidt's conduct was so disgraceful, as it appears Brinkman is contending, perhaps he should not be co-sponsoring legislation with the person most responsible for Schmidt calling Murtha a coward.