PM: It's Post Marc Time

Now that Dann's done who steps up to the plate to preserve the Democrat's near-total hold on state government's executive offices?

The talk of the town made it back to Youngstown without any major stopovers; his wife had a hand-written note for reporters waiting outside noting the family wanted privacy while showing some respect for the scribes, not surprising since she's a journalism professor at YSU; here's hoping he made her breakfast this morning since he has more time on his hands before trying to figure out how he'll make a living after spectacularly flaming out of the big time along the Scioto.
Now the really hard work for politicians begins, because pushing Marc Dann out of office wasn't the hard work. The door is open again for Republicans to get more than one foot on the doorjam, the opportunity to see to it that Mary Taylor isn't the only hope for a GOP sorely in need of a statewide cocktail.

Amidst all the fuss over which Democrat will replace Dann for a term lasting approximately six months tops -- is it former AG Lee Fisher, the thoughtful Eric Fingerhut, Cuyahoga Prosecutor Bill Mason or Governor Ted Strickland's able-bodied counsel Kent Markus?

Conventional wisdom suggests the Governor needs to move quickly to get an adult in the job, and someone who can run as an independent and not just a more mature baby-sitter holding down the fort after Dann's demise. That would put the ball squarely in Lee Fisher's court with a proven track record of statewide races, name recognition, and nobody -- even his critics -- paint him as just another incoming president of the Delta House fraternity. When Ted talks about making "maturity" his top consideration, there's a photo of Lee Fisher above the quotation marks.

What, then, do the Republicans do? This is likely to be an ugly year for the GOP, ugly with a capitol UGH. John McCain at the top of the ticket in economically-depressed Ohio is like taking swings from the dugout instead of the batters box; a state that went hard for Hillary isn't likely to be marching in lock-step behind a candidate many conservatives still fret isn't "right" enough. With recession, war and $4.00 gasoline on voter's minds local Republicans have every right to be nervous about keeping their folks on target, much less convincing right-leaning independents and Democrats that it's OK to stray in November.

With numbers of voters openly identifying themselves as members of the Republican party as low as they've been in generations is this the time for statewide candidates to hurl themselves atop the November funeral pyre? That kind of action is usually reserved for hapless Democrat statewide races (see: Bob Burch and Tim Hagan) but the chance for the GOP to take an actual bite of the apple again before 2010 will be hard to pass up. Betty Montgomery would be a strong candidate despite the Noe tar-and-feathering she took in 2006, simply because she runs as a credible adult (and it doesn't hurt the guy holding the tar brush went down in flames himself) and still maintains statewide support among grass-root Republican organizations. Among the other lawyers who can (or have) held the job: Jim Petro, who was unable to stop conservative Ohio Republicans from committing Ken-icide with the Blackwell campaign loss to Strickland.

Then again, it's baby elephant versus a herd of adult donkeys in the race and with such lukewarm support for the top of the ticket the Dann stumble may not be enough to convince voters a trip down memory lane is worth the trouble for a down-ticket job opening.