For One Night, the 33 28 Most Powerful People in Ohio Were in Fulton County

March 29, 9AM update: I have learned that there were 28 members in attendance and revised the post accordingly. Its substance hasn’t changed.

This post was originally done at 11 PM last night, but has been moved to the top for the remainder of the work day Wednesday because of its importance.
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The 28 were Republicans meeting in Wauseon, voting on who to endorse in statewide races.

There were three contested races. I am told that in two of them, Betty Montgomery and Ken Blackwell won endorsement for Attorney General and Governor, respectively. I am awaiting media confirmation of those results from somewhere.

That leaves the US Senate race — Brace yourself.

Three candidates were in the fray: incumbent Mike DeWine and challengers Bill Pierce and David Smith.

The ground rules were as follows:

• A candidate must get two-thirds of the votes party members to be officially endorsed.
• If, after the first ballot, none of the three received the required two-thirds, whoever finished third would be eliminated, and there would be another vote with only the remaining two candidates eligible.
• On the second ballot, if neither candidate received two-thirds of the votes, no candidate would be endorsed.
• The actual vote counts would not be revealed for either the first or second ballots.

I am told each candidate was allowed to speak for a few minutes, and that there was no time allotted for questioning the candidates before the voting occurred.

So what happened?

No one got two-thirds of the votes on the first ballot. The candidate who finished third and was eliminated was ….. was ….. Mike DeWine.

You read that right. This is a stunning and I believe unprecedented rebuke in an Ohio GOP county endorsement meeting.

On the second ballot, neither Bill Pierce nor David Smith received two-thirds of the votes. Therefore, no candidate received a US Senate endorsement in Fulton County, but both Bill Pierce and David Smith were, according to an e-mailer, deemed “qualified candidates.”

I know there’s more than a little wailing and gnashing of teeth tonight that no one emerged with an endorsement, and yes, I share that disappointment.

But the big message from tonight is this, and don’t forget it: Emperor Mike has no clothes. Tonight he was deemed NOT qualified. He has been soundly beaten throughout the state, and has managed by one lonely win in five fair and open county endorsement meetings spread over eight weeks.

Mike DeWine has only two remaining allies: apathy and inertia. I’m beginning to think that DeWine can lose this election even if both challengers remain. If there’s only one declared challenger on May 2, the odds could actually be against him.
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UPDATE: Black Swamp Conservative noted that DeWine’s on-hand surrogate played the fear card, and was not impressed:

I am so proud of this committee for not falling for the DeWine surrogate’s request that “Republicans must work together as never before” - as if DeWine had that in mind when he brasenly declared the President’s Social Security reform efforts dead last year.

I am proud of this committee for having had the clarity to understand that having “voted with the President more than 90% of the time” means that he voted with the Democrats on the most crucial 10%.

I am so proud of this committee for having shirked the DeWine surrogate’s warnings of a Democrat takeover in the Senate. Clearly the committee can’t imagine it would mean much of a difference in terms of representation from our Senator.

UPDATE 2: Wrong-way DeWine continues to amaze with his tin ear. He opposes Ken Blackwell’s Tax Expenditure Limitation (TEL) initiative, as does our other alleged Republican Senator George Voinovich. I wonder how loud the booes will be when his name is announced at the Cincinnati Reds’ Opening Day game next Monday?