Josh Mandel Home From Big Bucks Fundraiser in DC; Won't Answer Questions

When I think of Josh Mandel, I think of the character Willy "The Weasel" Wilhelm, a fictional reporter for the L.A. Times always willing to do the bidding of the moneyed and powerful if the price is right in Michael Crichton's novel Rising Sun (Steve Buscemi portrays this character in the film adaptation). Consider the following:

5 years ago, Josh Mandel was a city councilman in Lyndhurst, Ohio, population 14,001. 

Today, he's Treasurer of State of Ohio, a position he won with the help of one of the sleaziest, most back-stabbing political ads I have ever seen, one so bad that it caused multiple Ohio newspapers to un-endorse him in the race. He also won the position by promising to serve a full 4 year term, a promise made necessary by his naked political ambition and office hopping.

Now, Mandel has returned from a high-dollar D.C. fundraiser thrown for him by lobbysists whose clients include the infamous Koch brothers, as part of an "exploration" of whether to run for the U.S. Senate next year. He also refuses to answer questions about his positions on Senate Bill 5, the tremendously unpopular plan to screw over Ohio's middle class and take away collective barganing rights from Ohio's police, firefighters, and teachers. 

I've said it before, and I'll say it again. Josh Mandel's political ambition is so naked, it should be arrested for public indecency.