18 February 2006

Brown vs. DeWine: Good Politics vs. Good Principles

Based on reports of Sherrod Brown’s recent actions, the following character assessments seem reasonable:

Sherrod Brown has progressive politics but lacks integrity and principle;
Mike DeWine has conservative politics but has integrity and principles.

Mike DeWine and George Voinovich are the two most moderate Republicans in Congress. The problem is not DeWine (or Voinovich) as much as it is the Republican Party. It is the Party leadership that engages in partisan shenanigans, not Mike DeWine.

Compare that to Sherrod Brown and the Democratic Party. In this case, the problem is both Sherrod Brown and the Democratic Party. The Dem leadership has demonstrated their incompetence so often that it has gone from amusing to pathetic to absurd. The Dems are reinventing themselves, but it’s happening “bottom-up” and hasn’t reached the leadership yet. Eventually they will storm the Bastille and roll some heads but I doubt many are holding their breath.

Here in Ohio, a moderate voter would certainly think twice about voting for a man who has demonstrated an abject lack of integrity and maintains allegiance to his Party’s incompetent and sinking leadership.

I like Sherrod Brown’s politics more but I trust him less (if at all). I like DeWine’s politics less but I trust him more. And the difference in the trust level is more than the difference in the politics. If the election were today, I would vote for DeWine because I prefer his moderate conservatism to Brown’s immoderate lack of integrity and judgment.

One candidate has more favorable politics but can’t be trusted; the other has less favorable politics but can be trusted.

Who would you vote for?

UPDATE: Much has changed in the several months since this post was written. This more recent post has the latest thoughts on Mike DeWine.

5 comments:

Anonymous said...

Sure DeWine is real trustworthy. He is currently trying to pass legislation that will make Bush's currently illegal spying program legal. I would rather have Brown as a Senator. Hackett just did not have the intestinal fortitude to stay in the race. I don't want a senator who folds up the first time the big boys pick on him

Anonymous said...

Unless I see some questions answered and apologies issued by the Democrats, including direct outreach to Hackett's followers (not dodging the entire issue of how he was forced out or trying to revise history), I am likely to take my 1998 option: none of the above. I can understand how DeWine might look good to a lot of moderates. He responds to my many emails and even occasionally sends out a thoughtful position paper. He broke with his party to vote in favour of allocating $215 million for armored Humvees for the troops in Iraq. I disagree with most of his positions but he is not a demagogue. (He'll probably get the demagogue vote on the coattails of Kenny "Katherine Harris" Blackwell.)

Anonymous said...

All this complaining about how Hackett was treated does not mean much in the big picture. Either you vote for DeWine who supports the Bush-Republican police state or you vote for Democrats who do not. If the Democrats do not win either house of the Congress the police state will continue to grow and our rights will disapear. There is only one option in November. Vote Democrat from top to bottom on the ticket. It is foolish to look at an individual candidate. All the Republicans in Congress have supported Bush. A failure to reign him in will bring more long term damage to our country.

WestEnder said...

I certainly remember the "either you're with us or you're against us" ploy from the Republicans, but this is the first time I'm hearing it from a Democrat.

When Bush & Co. took that perspective it divided the nation and alienated the world. But that could never happen to anything as strong as the Democratic Party.

The only significance of such comments may be that establishment Dems want to go down swinging rather than just go down. Big deal, who cares? Just go down already.

Mark said...

I'll vote for Brown if the polls put him neck and neck with DeWine. Realistically he's going to lose by a landslide. The Democrats shot themselves in the foot and no talk about how much an individual vote matters will change that.

Frankly, it doesn't matter if you vote for Brown or not.