Great post, but I feel I must take you behind the GOP curtain to see why Mary Taylor has had such a hard time getting traction within the GOP for things like Governor or Senator.

You will probably not believe me here, but I really very much believe it to be the truth.

First, it has absolutely zero, zip, nil, nada to do with the fact that she is a woman. It really does not.

To put it simply: Mary wants a job better than the one she currently has, but she does not want to do the work necessary to attain it.

I am in no way begrudging her for wanting to be Governor or US Senator nor am I begrudging her for her life choices (i.e. spending a lot of time with her family, a lot of time staying in shape and whatever time is left for running the Auditor’s office). For someone that wants to keep running for down-ticket office that is a great recipe for doing just that, but if she wants to be Governor or Senator then she is going to have to work for it just like anyone else.

She wants a “hand out” instead of a “hand up” and taking that mindset is never going to get her where she wants to go. She is going to have to make personal sacrifices to take her career to the next level.

Is that fair? Probably not. Does it suck that that is the reality of the current state of affairs in Ohio politics? Definitely. But, that is the reality of her situation.

She is going to have to build the relationships with both the grassroots and donor communities within the Republican Party in at least 40-50 of the 88 counties to be in a position to be deemed viable.

Her current approach of “do a decent job, spend time with family, work out a lot, etc” is not going to get her there.

We do not coronate kings and queens. We usually do not have to court people to run for Gov or Senate because people are usually fighting over it, but this year might be an exception with Gov if Kasich bows out.

If she ever does the necessary work then I think she will be in a great position to run for higher office, but if she does not then she will continue to have tepid support at best.

The only other thing that she has working against her is that there is the perception that Arshinkoff controls her. Frankly, I think Alex is a pretty smart guy so personally my thoughts on that are “whatever”, but there are a number of people within the GOP that are very, very nervous about Mary advancing to a position of higher power and the ability to dole out more goodies to her friends if Alex truly does control her.

Put those two things together and you have what I believe are the real reasons as to why Mary Taylor has not gotten any traction (and may continue to not get any traction in the future if changes do not occur) when her name comes up in regards to an office higher than Auditor of the great state of Ohio.

Kyle Sisk
http://www.kylesisk.typepad.com

P.S. Thanks for your great comments on my blog. I very much appreciate it!!!

As for clearing the path for an unopposed primary, that’s a bit tricky, and the reason behind it is Bob Taft.

In the past, there seemed to be an acknowledged pecking order of who’s turn it was to be the gubernatorial candidate. Blackwell wanted to run for Ohio Governor after serving a term as Ohio Treasurer, but he was told that it was Taft’s turn, so Blackwell was coaxed into running for Ohio Secretary of State.

Letting Taft take his turn was a mistake. I think 80% of Ohioans would agree with me about that.

Since then, nobody is going to move aside because it’s somebody else’s turn. No more taking turns. That’s why Montgomery, Blackwell, and Petro all jumped into the 2006 gubernatorial race. Montgomery stepped out to contest the AG primary, so even though she thought the gubernatorial race was too crowded, she didn’t find an uncontested primary of her own to run in. Neither Blackwell nor Petro were willing to step aside for the other, so the primary race went down to the wire.

No one is cognizant of a clearcut hierarchy within the party, and the GOP losses of 2006 only compound the matter of whose “turn” it might be. Each potential statewide primary candidate will try to make the case that they hold the key to capturing the hearts of disenchanted voters, and, since rhetoric alone can’t decide the matter, the only evidence to support their claims will be the one who gets more votes in the primary.

Uncontested primaries would require a top-down, political boss approach. Rank-and-file Republicans in Ohio, though aren’t happy with that approach because it produced Bob Taft. Therefore, a bottom-up, grass-roots approach has challenged the status quo, Bob Bennett has made his exit, and the Ohio GOP is still a bit amorphous at this point. That’s why we might see contested primaries in 2010 just like we saw in 2006.

This post is about how glass shattering her appointment by the McCain campaign to the position of GOP VP nominee will be for other races on a local and state level. That’s what I wrote two weeks ago – that’s what I’m speculating about here.

Sarah Palin beat Governor Frank Murkowski in a GOP primary then went on to beat former Governo Tony Knowles in November of 2006 to get that governorship.

She has gotten to where she is with toughness and grit.

Frank Murkowski and Tony Knowles didn’t step aside for Sarah, she ran them over. Same could be said about her running over Ridge, Liberman, Romney, Huckabee, etc. for the veep spot.

You are saying that your speculation is that the others would not withdraw, they would stay in a primary against her and she has the ability to beat them.

I think you are 100% correct – the issue I’m raising isn’t about that. The issue I’m raising has to do with the traditionally accepted belief that not having a contested primary is the best case scenario.

I am speculating as to whether that CW will hold should Taylor want to run for gov, and in that speculation, I’m asking – will Taylor be able to garner enough support prior to a primary to convince others to not run and see her as she may see herself – as the strongest candidate, OR will they run a primary with her and then she’ll win? Because you know what – depending on who the Dem gov candidate is AND depending heavily on what she’d be running on (since auditor is quite limited in scope), I’d consider pulling a GOP ticket to support Taylor in a contested match up for GOP gov nomination. She’s that strong.

This is ALL conjecture of course – come on. But you’ve read this blog long enough – I love to know the process – how it all works. And that’s what I’m focusing on and I believe you know that.

Yeah – no – moving aside isn’t the same as rolling over and playing dead in my opinion. Though depending on the context – you never know.