Mean Jean Schmidt Kisses Warren County-- And Possibly Her Political Career-- Goodbye

Who doesn't remember Mean?

Warren County's in southwest Ohio, a safely Republican enclave in the suburbs of Cincinnati. I'll tell you why we're talking about it today after I introduce it a little more. I've never been there but I remember it well from past campaigns against right-wing Congresswoman Mean Jean Schmidt. According to wikipedia, the county is 94.66% White and the median income for a family is $64,692, over $20,000 more than the average for the state. This is how Republican the county is-- since the first presidential election after its founding, 1856, Warren County has supported the Republican candidate for president every single time except when the Republicans ran Barry Goldwater in 1964. They never voted for FDR but I have no doubt that Goldwater would win in a landslide today. With the massive expansion in population in the 1990s-- much of it suburban white flight-- the county has turned redder and redder, so much so that Democrats rarely even bother to field any candidates. In the 1996, 2000, and 2004 elections, in which eight county offices were on the ballot, there were no Democratic candidates on the ballot and late in 1999 the last Democrat to hold office in the county, a member of the school board, was defeated for reelection by a Republican.

For someone like Mean Jean, Warren County has been a lifesaver-- a lifesaver from the most populous county in the district, Hamilton County (which includes parts of Cincinnati). President Obama won Hamilton County with 53% of the vote, a percentage point better than his statewide showing. And it was counties like Warren that dragged the statewide totals down. He only got 31% against McCain there.

Warren County has always been a bulwark for Mean Jean. In 2006, when she lost Hamilton County to Vic Wulsin, 53-47%, Warren County was there for her-- with 59%, making a nice contribution to her razor thin districtwide total. Warren County outperformed for Mean Jean by a full 8%. (It out performed for Mike DeWine by much more. On the same ballot as Schmidt, he took 64%, exactly 20% better than he did statewide, when he lost his seat to Sherrod Brown.)

In 2008, when McCain was pulling 68% in Warren and 46% in Hamilton-- Obama lost the district 40-60%-- Schmidt took 53% in Warren while, once again, losing Hamilton. She won the district with 45%. Last year Mean Jean had become a staple in the district-- especially with the teabaggers, despite the fact that she was one of the Republicans who helped defeat the T.A.R.P. Wall Street bailout and then switched her vote at the behest of Boehner 4 days later and helped the bailout pass-- and she won with a 58% total districtwide. Warren was her best-performing county, giving her 65% of the vote. It's what makes the 3rd congressional district relatively safe for the lamest and least effective-- and least liked-- Member of Congress from the Buckeye State. Or it used to.

Despite switching her vote for him on the T.A.R.P. bailout, Boehner threw Mean Jean under the bus this year, directing the Republican-controled legislature in Columbus to shore up extremely vulnerable Steve Chabot, a much closer ally, by taking Warren County away from the 3rd and grafting it onto the 2nd. Chabot will be much harder to beat now. But Mean Jean... well, some Democrats in Ohio think she's a sitting duck. So does DWT.

You may have noticed that we endorsed outstanding state Rep. Connie Pillich in her race against Chabot. Well, Connie's legislative district is now split between Chabot's and Mean Jean's congressional districts. She can run in either. And we're urging her to run against Mean. We think she'd have a better chance to win and we think Mean has earned a top flight opponent like Connie. And, let's be frank... who the hell wants to have to run in Warren County? Perhaps if you'd consider contributing even $5 or $10 to Connie's campaign if you agree she should run against Mean Jean Schmidt, we can persuade her. You can do it here. And we wouldn't have to do much to update this video, would we?