Chabot losing focus?

Rubberstamping Steve Chabot seems determined to keep his wagon hitched to the Bush administration. In order to do so he will have to spend time defending the president. From yesterday's Cincinnati Enquirer it looks like Chabot has already lost focus on Ohio's first district. To witness:

Chabot, who returned from his Afghanistan trip Monday, said the U.S. also must help Afghanistan build its economy, stop the drug trade and build roads and bridges.

and....

"This is a very poor country. We have a lot to do beyond just training security forces,'' Chabot said.

This sounds more like nation building rather than Ohio first district building. We have a few bridges and roads that need attention. Our local economy is constantly loosing jobs. Our schools always need attention and don't even get me started on drug abuse. Try spending some of those federal dollars right here in good old Cincinnati. There is no need to travel across the world to find problems when we haven't solved some basic issues at home.
Newsflash to Chabot: Ohio's first district is in OHIO. You can find us on a state map, look in the lower lefthand corner.

Additionally Chabot was quoted in the Enquirer article:

Back home, Chabot said he is working on getting a bill through Congress to help Southern black farmers get retribution because of years of discrimination

He's all over the place, everywhere that is, except focusing on his own district. As far as I know Cincinnati doesn't breed mules and we don't have large tracts of land that can be divided into fourty acre parcels.
It seems Chabot has taken his marching orders and is out to defend his party. From the WaPo this morning:

As both major parties gear up for the 2006 midterm elections, a crucial strategic divide is emerging in the battle for the House. Democrats -- led by Rep. Rahm Emanuel (Ill.), the chairman of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee -- are insisting that national issues such as the war in Iraq, corruption in Congress and President Bush's approval ratings will be dominant in voters' minds next year. Republicans insist recent history shows that local issues, not national waves, determine who wins.

and...

Democrats recently released a study showing that congressional Republicans have voted with the president at a higher rate than any majority party in the past 25 years. The DCCC also funded radio ads last month seeking to paint three Ohio Republicans -- Reps. Deborah Pryce, Steven C. LaTourette and Steve Chabot -- as lockstep supporters of Bush.

The DCCC has stepped up the pressure to force the hands of republician congressman. It looks like Chabot has decided abandon Ohio's first district in favor of defending the Bush adminstration.