Ohio newspaper: Don't support GOP candidate involved in 'nasty' race
(CNN) - Ohio's largest newspaper on Saturday endorsed the reelection bid of Sen. Sherrod Brown, a Democrat, calling him a "good listener and a creative lawmaker."
But the Cleveland Plain Dealer's editorial board also based its endorsement on defeat of Brown's opponent.
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"Electing his Republican opponent, Ohio Treasurer Josh Mandel, would reward one of the nastiest campaigns ever waged in this state," reads the editorial, published on the Plain Dealer's website. "It would reward a candidate who hasn't moved beyond partisan slogans and careful sound bites. It would reward ambition untethered to substance."
The paper credited Brown for his "pragmatic support for an infrastructure bank, for advanced manufacturing research, for balanced environmental policies in a state with huge energy resources and needs" and other bipartisan efforts.
It said the Democrat should do more in the bipartisan vein, especially given the current political environment.
"We wish Brown would round off his partisan edges and take off his ideological blinders on trade and entitlement reform," the paper's editorial board wrote. "With the fiscal cliff approaching, Washington needs compromise, not confrontation. Brown should amp up his pragmatic side in a second term."
The Plain Dealer cast doubt on Mandel's bipartisan credentials, writing that he "talks about changing the culture of Washington, but his meteoric rise from Lyndhurst city councilman to state legislator to treasurer to Senate hopeful - as he morphed from relative moderate to hard-line conservative - offers little evidence that he knows how."
The Republican has stood by while his "outside allies" have leveled nasty attacks.
"Mandel says he can't do anything about the onslaught of negative ads, and technically, he's right. They are independent expenditures," the editorial reads. "But if he had at any point told their makers to take their cash elsewhere or publicly decried the ads' overwhelming negativism, he would have far more credibility."
One of those groups, conservative Crossroads GPS, last month unveiled a television ad it was running in the Ohio claiming that the state has lost more than 280,000 jobs "under (Brown's) leadership." The spot also criticizes the senator's support of the health care reform law backed by President Barack Obama.
Non-partisan political watchers The Cook Political Report and Rothenberg Political Report both rate the race as leaning in Brown's favor.
The race appears to have opened up in the Democrat's direction, as several polls released in recent weeks have shown Brown leading Mandel by seven percentage points.
- CNN's Adam Levy, Ashley Killough and Gregory Wallace contributed to this report
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It is a sign of the times that a person would run for office and be completely negative and change his beliefs just to be elected. From the challenger for President to people running for Congress to those running for state and local offices. We are seeing more and more negative campaigning and false accusations. Unfortunately, until the voters decide not to accept this type of campaign we will see even more. Judging by some of the comments on CNN we have not reached the plateau and we are bombarded by negative advertising by parties and by these so-called independent PACS.
We all know what the Tea Party did to this country. We need Sherrod Brown in there to help President Obama.
I hope Sherrod Brown wins! A rare politician for sure.
We are suppose to rely on mainstream media to give us factual information with a non-partisan tone.
Unfortunately, that's not the case. It's either you get the left or the right. And unfortunately for conservatives, there are way more mainstream media who further the cause of the liberals. It's very disconcerting that character assassination is a tool being used. Romney's platform is more business-friendly which definitely be an encouragement to boost the economy – I'm sure many top rank economists and businessmen agree to that (the likes of Jack Welch, Milton Friedman, Gary Becker, Robert Lucas . . .). Meanwhile, Obama appeals to personalities with socialistic inclination and anti-religion (the likes of George Soros, Noam Chomsky, Bill Maher . . .). And, if someone further the cause of socialism, he'll get the sympathy of the huge poor population whom they thought they were oppressed. And that is what the Democratic party is selling.
If it's true that he voted for pay raises for himself while the rest of us were being laid off and hung out to dry then he deserves worse than losing an election.
You could tell in president Obama's face that he wasa very tired. he had to face romney and his wife was expecting him to entertain for their 20 th. then, he was dealing with all hell breaking out overseas. romney was rested. wait until the next time.
It is clear that divided government is the recipe for gridlock. I don't care who wins, as long as it is a sweep so something will get done!
Obama plan for america is working people of america think
We should all applaud the principled stance of this newspaper's editorial board. It's heartwarming to observe that there are still journalists who refuse to restrict themselves to calling the "play by play" of the political campaigns.
Unfortunately negative ads work. Until they no longer serve a purpose negative ads will remain a large part of the campaign process. Many voters believe this is a relatively new phenomenon because of all the media hype, but it's not. During the presidential election of 1800 Thomas Jefferson founded a newspaper who sole purpose was to trash John Adams. It was a bitter campaign with both sides slinging mud. Welcome to American politics.
In this cycle Romney seems to be intent on lowering the discourse even further. With his shape shifting persona no one knows which Romney will show up or what position will change.
Vulture/Voucher 2012 going down, down, down.
ANYone backed by Rove, Koch, etc., should be voted OUT.
Republicans have become so extreme that they are unwilling to put the nation's interest ahead of Party partisanship. We need a Democratic majority in Congress to help President Obama move the nation forward. Refusal to ask the top 1% to contribute a little more to help pay for 2 wars, unfunded Medicare Part D, unfunded No Child Left Behind, etc. has seriously threatened our economy. We MUST stop voting against our national interests. We also must stop trying to force social engineering by legislation at the cost of our individual rights!
Iamnotfooled- Yep they were elected to stop Obama's onslaught on the Constitution of the USA and the insane spending that is bankrupting this nation. They are making progress and will be growing in numbers in the legislature after the November elections.
I voted yesterday and I voted for Brown.He has been on the veterans side from day one. I suppoert vets for Brown !
Wow..that is tacky. Can't say that I am surprised. It is pathetic what is considered "Journalism" today. No wonder we are all at each throats.
Who are you guys looking at? I've always been on the far right. Just look at my time in Massachusettes.
I hope that Brown wins over his opponent to show that nasty campaigns can't win. The problem is that Romney proves that you can also given his win of the nomination.
D ticket all the way. Send a message. Spread the word.
Forward and better than ever.
It is sad watching as the negative ads (rarely based in truth) become harsher and more crass. To many of us, it is simply proof that the candidate has nothing to say for himself. Hopefully the segment of society that falls for this is shrinking. We must demand better.
There was a time when reporters and the owners of TV Stations had integrity and would not run ads that were not at least legal, decent, honest and truthful. It's even worse when TV stations start to criticise ads run by other TV stations on all sorts of various grounds.
I think producers, directors and owners must have a policy re political ads which requires ad placers to say how and where the facts are to support the ad then run it or not after an evaluation.
Regards,
Hodgson.
sounds like the old two-step in Ohio..for your info: oil/barrel..$88.00/barrel..pump price the same or higher, ( depending where you live ),than when oil was trading at $130.00/ barrel..somethibg wrong with that picture..
Vote out all endorsed candidate by the Tea Party. They are out in congress to destroy America and not to rebuild America destroyed in 8 yrs by the Bush administration .
CNN shouldn't run their tag line on TV regarding this race ("Ohio newspaper: Don't support GOP candidate involved in "nasty" race") as it makes it appear their reckless comment is referring to the Presidential race.....or is that what you hope people will think?