In the annals of wingnuttery, there's no more fertile breeding ground than south Ohio. The region produced William Tecumseh Sherman, who said "I intend to make Georgia howl." And George Armstrong Custer, who said, "There are not enough Indians in the world to defeat the Seventh Cavalry" (LOL). And Curtis Lemay, who ordered the big one dropped on Hiroshima, and said, "We should bomb Vietnam back to the Stone Age."
And, of course, vestigial Jean Schmidt, who dresses in Captain America suits and likes to call ex-Marines "cowards."
But now the Hittite-Republican Schmidt has not one but two GOP primary challengers, coming at her from the right. Last week, Hamilton County attorney and former town councilman Brian Hawkins announced he will enter the OH-02 congressional race, to stop
"this ill-fated attempt at socialism our country is going through."
ROFLMAO (and no, that is not a confession of Maoism, Brian).
More below the Bolshevik fold.
The above quote comes courtesy of the Cincinnati Enquirer's Community Press at http://communitypress.cincinnati.com...
As you can read there, Hawkins is quite a serious candidate, with a background as a political consultant. He joins C. Michael Kilburn as a Schmidt primary challenger -- Kilburn claims that the C. stands for "Conservative," I kid you not. Looks like nearby resident Joe the Plumber will have a difficult endorsement choice this cycle.
The sharks would not be circling unless there were already blood in the water. Schmidt's vulnerability comes courtesy of one David Krikorian, who garnered 18% of the vote in 2008 as an Independent, and now has a lock on the Democratic Party nomination. Republican strategists know that Schmidt cannot defend against a candidate like Krikorian, who unites Democrats and Independents in a formidable coalition.
Schmidt, whom Dick Cheney would not be seen with during the 2006 campaign (now THAT says something), is in a particular pickle because Hawkins and Kilburn come from Clermont and Warren counties, respectively, the two most solid GOP bases in the district. Schmidt is also a Clermont resident, now having to defend her home turf.
Only a few short weeks ago, Schmidt was sitting pretty (it's a figure of speech) with no primary challengers, facing a divided Democratic field. But those tables turned when party-hack pretty-boy Todd Book was forced from the Democratic race by labor unions in his home county. As first reported by this writer at http://www.dailykos.com/...
(follow the links), Book's unceremonious departure leaves Krikorian uniting anti-machine and anti-incumbent forces in the district.
And that's why the Kilburns and cold-war Hawkins are panicking.
(Jim Parker, a friend of mine, has also declared he's a candidate, but Jim has been in and out of the Democratic race a few times already. First he was running, then the Pike County Democratic Mob screwed him by an early Book endorsement, then Jim said he would run as an Independent just to screw up a Book nomination, now Jim says he's back as a Democrat. Jim's a good man, but he's not a serious contender this year.)
Learn more and donate to the Krikorian campaign here: http://www.krikorian2010.com/ Because there's only so much Schmidt we can take!