NOTES FROM THE SECOND MORNING AFTER...
Well, it was just a matter of hours before the Columbus Dispatch set all of us on the right track for the 2016 presidential election with whoopie speculation about two of its favorite Republican Buckeye politicians, Gov.John Kasich and Sen. Rob Portman.
In a long front- page piece, the story began by describing Kasich's "smashing" win and Portman's "key role in helping the GOP take control of the Senate".
Smashing? But only if you merely consider the raw numbers after the governor ran up the score against Ed FitzGerald's posthumous campaign to a cheering section filled with huge donors, media accolades and those practiced in convenient references to the Lord. You may recall that Kasich went to Nevada and cast God's blessing on casino magnate Sheldon Adelson, in a blatant appeal for Big Money. On Election night, caught up in the reverance of the moment, Kasich told us that God had placed a hand on him. That doesn't leave much hope for Portman.
To speculation about his future, Kasich stayed in form by coyly dismissing the question. He said he's not "thinking about the future''. As for Portman, his chief of staff told the Dispatch that the senator is "going to meet with his family about this issue over the coming weeks" and then with "trusted advisors", a process that could take months. That has always impressed me as Portman's normal speed.
Meantime, let the speculation roll.
Political experts quoted in the story agreed that both would make "viable" candidates - but as President Obama once said, "You can only have one president at a time" in deference to the fact that George Bush still had a few weeks left in his tenure following the 2008 election.
A cautionary footnote: The Dispatch poured out its heart to elect Mitt Romney and its home county of Franklin went for Obama.
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More Grumpy style Meet the Press: The Beacon Journal, as is its wont to be kind to spoiled victors, described Kasich as '" governing from the center". Oh? With hefty right-wing pals like Adelson and the Koch Brothers looking over his shoulder?
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While we're at it, might as well note that Armond Budish, a Democrat, defeated his Republican opponent, Jack Schron, for Cuyahoga County Executive rather handily despite the paper's endorsement of Schron. The paper accused Budish of being " too partisan". And for years I thought that partisanship was high up on the to-do list of a politician!
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Finally, we turned to Huey Long's immortal words for the benediction on Tuesday's nightmare: "One of these days the people of Louisiana are going to get good government and they aren't going to like it.":
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