What a dick, Part II

Lord Blackwell, as expected, says he is not responsible for the thumping Ted Strickland administered on November 7. Moreover, it's all Bob Taft's fault, and Blackwell was the sacrificial lamb, and says he refused to attack Taft.

 

I report - You decide. The following Associated Press article appears on the Tiffin Advertiser-Tribune's front page today (12/6/2006):

 

 AP Interview: BLACKWELL LEFT TAFT ATTACKS TO OTHERS COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) — Long a critic of Gov. Bob Taft, Ken Blackwell said Tuesday that he rejected advice to go negative on the Taft administration during his losing campaign for governor for the sake of the Republican Party.

In an Associated Press interview, Blackwell named that as one of myriad factors that contributed to his loss — including government scandal, Ohio’s economy and masterful use by Gov.-elect Ted Strickland of his own pro-religion, pro-gun, anti-Taft message.

‘‘You make decisions. Here I am the titular head of the party at the top of the ticket. I’ve successfully gotten the rank and file to make me their nominee. So, do I continue to run against Republicans?’’ reflected Blackwell, Ohio’s two-term secretary of state. ‘‘The strategist said, for seven years, you’ve been a chief critic of the administration, so you should just play that out. I chose to run a more issue-oriented campaign.’’

Democrats and Republicans who ran ads attacking Taft — whose unpopularity with Ohioans grew after he pleaded no contest to ethics violations last year — were largely successful on Election Day. They included GOP Auditor-elect Mary Taylor, who linked her opponent to a Taft-backed tax increase.

Blackwell said he decided on another course, much as he opted not to run ads attacking then-President George H.W. Bush’s reversal on raising taxes — after the famous ‘‘read my lips’’ pledge — in his unsuccessful 1990 congressional campaign.

Taft spokesman Mark Rickel was unconvinced that Blackwell had not followed an anti-Taft game plan. ‘‘Perhaps Mr. Blackwell should go back and watch the tapes of the debates.’’

Taft, who leaves office next month due to term limits, was not entirely spared Blackwell’s campaign attacks. In the first gubernatorial debate, Blackwell painted Strickland as someone who would support Taft-like tax increases. Blackwell also said improving the state’s economy would take bolder leadership.

‘‘That doesn’t take business as usual, that doesn’t take an extension of the philosophy of Bob Taft, which this gentleman represents,’’ Blackwell said of Strickland that day.

Blackwell stopped short, however, of spending any of his campaign millions on TV ads attacking Taft. The bitter primary he and Attorney General Jim Petro waged for the nomination — which cost him $5.6 million — had already divided the party, Blackwell said, and piling on over the Taft record did not seem constructive.

‘‘It really doesn’t take a rocket scientist or detailed analysis to see there was a real tidal wave push for change and to give the other guys a chance,’’ he said. ‘‘They (Democrats) effectively said, ’We’re not them’ — so whether it was me who had been a major critic of the Taft administration, or (Republican) folks who were more aligned with them philosophically, it was the same outcome.’’

Blackwell said he believes the drive for change trumped all other factors on Election Day. He doesn’t believe the fact that he is black played much of role in the outcome, for example, noting that he had won four previous statewide elections.

He said other black candidates also lost races this year — incumbent treasurer Jennette Bradley, a fellow Republican, in the primary; Ohio Supreme Court candidate Ben Espy; and Democratic auditor candidate Barbara Sykes — and their losses could be traced more to the money they raised or the campaigns they ran than to their race.

In his own case, Blackwell saw his political stands as pivotal.

‘‘I wasn’t about to change who I am: I am a pro-life, Christian moralist supply-sider. That’s the ticket that got me to the party and got me several dances, and that wasn’t going to change,’’ he said. ‘‘But I think the heavy turnout among Independents and Democrats who were looking for change clearly saw me as not their cup of tea in terms of political philosophy.’’

He doesn’t view the grief he took in the national press over his handling of the 2004 election as ultimately doing him damage with the voters.

‘‘For every detractor I had about 2004, I had three people who thought we did it right,’’ he said.

Blackwell said previous secretaries of state in Ohio also served as honorary co-chairs to presidential campaigns, as he did for Bush’s, and that media accounts of his controversial public declarations and election directives overlooked strains that existed between his office and the White House heading into the 2004 election.

Among them, Blackwell said, were his support of the Steve Forbes presidential campaign in 2000; his bumping of Ralph Nader from the 2004 Ohio ballot, removing his potential to divide the Democratic vote; and his opposition to GOP requests for a second layer of election observers.

‘‘When you look at it in retrospect, the President could have been saying here’s a guy who’s been an independent voice that hasn’t followed the script, and now my presidency might turn on how he counts the vote,’’ Blackwell said.

He noted, with a laugh, that Bush is quoted in reporter Bob Woodward’s latest book referring to Blackwell as ‘‘a nut’’ as the state’s count remained incomplete on Election Night 2004.

Blackwell, 58, said he has not yet contemplated where life will take him after he leaves office at the end of the year — but it will probably be a continuation of his public service.

‘‘Next year, it will be 32 years that I’ve been in and out of public office. I’ve won 10 or 11 races, and lost four,’’ he said. ‘‘You learn over that 32-year period to pick yourself up off the canvas, dust yourself off, shake the cobwebs out of your head and move on with your career.’’

Blackwell, a multimillionaire, said he is ‘‘in a good position of being able to look for work but not needing a job.’’

‘‘There is plenty of work to be done,’’ he said. ‘‘I have the luxury of being able to sort things out and find the right fit.’’