Open E-Mail to Human Events Online (Re 2nd District Primary Results & Events, and Possible McEwen 2006 Candidacy)

Note: Minor edits and additions were made to the text of this post after the e-mail was sent to HEO, and an update e-mail was sent to HEO for the correction noted within the post.
____________________________

In The Human Events Online post, “Will McEwen Challenge Schmidt?” (HT OH-02), HEO Blogger John Gizzi makes factual errors about the both the results and the events of the Second District congressional primary that took place in June. The HEO post also speculates about a potential 2006 McEwen candidacy in the 2nd District against now-incumbent Jean Schmidt.

I e-mailed HEO about these errors, and indicated how the items they failed to report relating to what really happened in the June primary will, in my opinion, impact McEwen’s campaign should he run again.

Results Error

In my e-mail to HEO, I informed Mr. Gizzi that Jean Schmidt won the primary by 2,667 votes, not the 700 he claimed. Gizzi must not have been aware of the Clermont County submission glitch that was not corrected and included in the totals until the day after the election.

Errors in Recounting How Primary Events Unfolded

Gizzi writes the following in assessing the results:

McEwen’s backers believe his loss to Schmidt was due in large part to a TV blitz on behalf of fellow conservative (Tom) Brinkman that was funded by the conservative Club for Growth. (Following the race, in which Brinkman placed third, a club spokesman told me his group supported Brinkman but “had nothing against Bob McEwen,” and did not want a victory by Schmidt–who voted for a sales tax increase requested by Republican Gov. Robert Taft). In addition, McEwen’s fund-raising was hampered by the candidacy of fourth-place finisher DeWine, who had the backing of many reliable GOP donors out of respect for his senator-father. Neither Brinkman nor (Pat) DeWine are considered likely to run for the seat again.

This is where I’ll begin quoting my e-mail through to the end:

Mr. Gizzi should have tried to talk to someone besides McEwen’s backers, because that paragraph is a howler.

There were two Club for Growth (CFG) ad blitzes, and both were as I recall more radio-oriented than TV. Regardless:

• The first, about 2-1/2 weeks before Primary Election Day, strongly criticized Schmidt and praised Brinkman and McEwen. (correction: the ad only referred to Schmidt, and the CFG web site praised Brinkman, DeWine and McEwen–see third item at this link). I phoned CFG after the first blitz and informed David Keating, their Executive Director, that Brinkman’s record on taxes was stellar, but that McEwen, first, had no track record because of being out of elective office for 12 years, and second, when he was in office, had a reputation as being in favor of “pork for me and not for thee.”
• The second CFG campaign during the week before the election did single out Brinkman for praise, and Schmidt again for criticism. I do not know why CFG did not mention McEwen in the second blitz, but hope that it was because they did research showing that my contention about his past was accurate.

The CFG’s failure to mention McEwen in its second ad blitz did not hurt McEwen. What hurt him were attack ads funded from ultimate fourth-place finisher Pat DeWine’s million-dollar treasure chest. While these ads succeeded in driving both candidates’ numbers down, they raised legitimate questions about McEwen’s past votes for tax increases; his 12-year absence from the district at the time of the primary (I understand he has lived in the district, or at least has had a residence in it, for perhaps 8 months now); his involvement in the early 1990s House Bank Scandal (5th paragraph) that not only led to his first election loss, but also launched the career of Ohio Democratic gubernatorial candidate Ted Strickland; and his comical, probably illegal (according to Ohio election laws), and still-current insistence on calling himself “Congressman McEwen” despite not holding elective office since January 1993.

Others raised issues concerning the nature of McEwen’s many years of activity as a Washington lobbyist representing foreign governments and entities (which he would not discuss, even in general terms), and wondered how district voters could be assured that he would really keep the interests of the 2nd District, and yes, perhaps even the country as a whole, paramount.

I was, and still remain, concerned about the extent of McEwen’s involvement with Amway/Quixtar as an Independent Business Owner (IBO–people who in the past were called “distributors”), highly-paid motivational speaker, and provider of motivational materials to other IBOs, and was disappointed that, after a 12-year absence (and though he technically was not required to), he did not choose to release his Personal Financial Disclosure forms before Primary Election Day so the voters could have some idea of what he had been doing all these years (the submission deadline was the day after Primary Election Day).

All of these factors contributed to McEwen’s defeat in the June primary at the hands of Jean Schmidt, whom most observers had initially given little chance of winning.

As to McEwen’s primary election fundraising, he was not lacking for resources. He had well over a hundred contributions from Amway/Quixtar IBOs and others totaling several hundred thousand dollars. He had a radio-ad endorsement that included the voice of national values leader James Dobson (who, not knowing the other candidates, dishonestly pretended (second item at link) to somehow know that McEwen was the best candidate in the field, despite the strong values positions of Schmidt, Brinkman, and several other GOP candidates). McEwen had a similar endorsement voiced by local pro football legend and family-values conservative Anthony Munoz. He had numerous written testimonials and district campaign visits from other national values leaders and Reagan-era conservatives. With all of this help, the kind that most politicians can only dream of, he garnered less than 26% of the vote.

McEwen’s Potential 2nd District 2006 Candidacy

Most of the shortcomings and concerns about Bob McEwen described above still exist. But his ability to pull in the values-based outside support he had last time is limited by the reality that James Dobson and other values gurus cannot credibly claim that now-incumbent Jean Schmidt, a former Cincinnati Right to Life President, is weak on values issues. Additionally, there are several other Ohio races in 2006, including the one for governor, that values conservatives are giving very high priority.

During the past week, Congresswoman Schmidt has received strong support from your own Ann Coulter in her latest column. In a CNN interview with Howard Kurtz, Glenn Reynolds of Instapundit alluded to Schmidt’s “political courage.” Serendipitously for Schmidt, the complete meltdown of Congressman John Murtha continues. He has not only called for us to cut and run from Iraq, but in the past day he has slandered The Pentagon and the military, and arguably given aid and comfort to our terrorist enemies, by calling the US Army in Iraq “broken, worn out,” and “living hand to mouth.” Congresswoman Schmidt, in the meantime, has accepted an invitation to go to Iraq with a congressional delegation in mid-January, an indication that the administration may be proactively getting behind her.

Like it or not, all of these factors are bolstering Congresswoman Schmidt’s strong-on-defense credentials with voters. If Bob McEwen had one advantage heading into June’s primary, it was his outspoken and out-front support of the Reagan policies that led to our triumph in The Cold War, and his very visible and vocal support of The First Gulf War during his last term in Congress, both of which positioned him as presumptively strong in pursuing the War on Terror. Thanks to Schmidt’s House floor speech, and more than a little luck after that (Murtha’s excursion into no-man’s land and the actions of her over-the-top leftist critics have built up a “she’s our gal” effect in The District), any advantage McEwen might have had over her on defense and the War on Terror has evaporated.

That leaves tax and fiscal policy, particularly her association with Ohio’s GOP tax-raisers when she was a representative in Columbus, as Jean Schmidt’s only certain vulnerability. After what is now 13 years out of office, what can Bob McEwen say about what he could or would do differently or better in this area that would have more credibility than any inexperienced first-time candidate for office?

So in addition to merely speculating about whether Bob McEwen is running again, Human Events and Mr. Gizzi should be asking why this three-time loser (November 1992, March 1993, and June 2005, by roughly 6% of the vote in the 2nd and 3rd losses) insists on attempting a Hail-Mary campaign against a somewhat flawed incumbent, when there are several more credible challengers and true conservatives, including Tom Brinkman (yes, I voted for him in June’s primary), who, if the field were cleared of Bob “me-first” McEwen, could not only give Jean Schmidt a much tougher campaign, but could force her further to the right in the fight to survive the challenge.

Regards,
Tom Blumer