The corruption of people like Tom Noe, Bob Ney and our soon to be ex-governor Bob Taft, hit a nerve with voters. The citizenry regularly distrusts politicians ' it's the nature of the system ' but suddenly, their distrust was not only justified but also magnified. These people, whom Ohioans had vested power and trust into, had abused the system and neglected their responsibilities.
What became known as a culture of corruption cast a long shadow over the GOP, especially in Ohio and in the statehouse. The midterm elections were going to be as much about integrity as Ohio's lagging economy and education funding problems.
No pollster could deny that the culture of corruption was going to equal a boost in precinct numbers for the Democrats, but a clean sweep still seemed a little far-fetched.
But led by the overwhelming victory of Ted Strickland, Democrats stormed through the Ohio races, also claiming a senate seat, the secretary of state, attorney general and state treasurer. Ohioans were clearly fed up with Republican-controlled Ohio and, this time, they did something about it.
It's about time.
2007 has to be the year for Ohio to do a 180-degree turn. There are too many overriding problems for politics to go on as usual. A lot of work needs to be done and these newly elected leaders will be held accountable to fix the problems their predecessors left behind. Pick almost any campaign platform buzzword ' educations, economy, health care ' and there is bound to be something wrong with it within Ohio's borders.
It might not be fair to expect Strickland to fix Taft's legacy of letdowns, but politics is rarely about being fair: it's about progress and ideas. Mr. Strickland won by more than 20 points because voters (at least a large majority) believe he repair a state in despair.
The governor-elect himself said, At the end of the day
the success of my administration will be based not by the size of the victory tonight but by how much difference we make in the lives of everyday Ohioans in a statement.
And though the losing candidates almost always advise their disappointed supporters to stand behind the winner, blind trust is what got us into the mess in the first place. The Post endorsed nearly all the winners, but we're not endorsing a sheep-and-shepherd attitude during their terms. The next major election is not for another two years, but holding public officials accountable should start now.
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