Short diary. Forgive me, but I wanted to flag
this Washington Post story for the community:
Joy Padgett, the GOP's new congressional candidate in Ohio, has been in a jam when it comes to finding a big-name Republican who could come to town and bring more than trouble.
Gov. Bob Taft? He was convicted of illegally accepting gifts. GOP gubernatorial candidate Ken Blackwell? He is getting trounced in the polls. Bob Ney, the current congressman? He admitted taking bribes and then checked himself in for alcohol rehabilitation.
This helps explains Padgett's excitement Tuesday as her lunchtime guest of honor took to the podium outside the historic Granville Inn. It was first lady Laura Bush.
More below--
WashPo's story on Padgett's problems is interesting. Seems she can't find any GOP candidate without baggage to come talk. So she finds Laura Bush, who, as far as I know, doesn't actually hold any official GOP position. This is good news for us, and is is sort of a snapshot of what is going on nationally. Here are some more interesting snippets from the article.
"Joy, who as I just told you was a schoolteacher for 20 years, owns custom-made brass knuckles," the first lady tells an overflow crowd. . .
Is she serious? I think she is (scared gasp). Who buys custom-made brass knuckles?