DeWine campaign debate: Who delivers more votes — the NRA or editorial boards?

The Columbus Dispatch is outlining some of the major obstacles Senator Mike De-Wine is trying to overcome as he seeks re-election to the U.S. Senate against Democrat Sherrod Brown. Close to top on the list is, of course, the Senator's long history of anti-gun rights votes.

From the article:

DeWine’s precarious tumble in the polls has prompted a round of recriminations by those who have been close to him...

...They cite DeWine’s opposition to a statewide ballot issue in 2004 that prohibited same-sex marriage, which offended social conservatives in Ohio. They point to DeWine’s support of some gun restrictions, which angered the National Rifle Association. And they say DeWine enraged conservatives when he forged a compromise with six other Republican senators and seven Democratic senators to end Senate filibusters of President Bush’s nominees to the federal bench.

By doing so, DeWine won applause from many newspaper editorial boards across the state. The five largest newspapers, including The Plain Dealer in Cleveland and The Dispatch, have endorsed DeWine over Brown. But critics complain that editorial endorsements lack the potent electoral punch they once had.

"[Advisor Mike] Dawson is the guy constantly whispering in his ear to play to the editorial boards," grumbled the same Washington Republican. "And we’re going to find who delivers more votes — the NRA or the editorial boards."

The Dispatch goes on to remind readers that as a member of the House, DeWine supported the Brady Bill, which required a waiting period and criminal background check before a gun could be sold. When he ran for the Senate in 1994, the Dispatch notes that DeWine backed a ban on the sale and production of some semi-automatic firearms.

Unlike many in-state and even Congressional races this year, the race for Senate in Ohio continues to offer nothing but lose-lose choices for those who vote their gun-freedoms first. At this point, with Sherrod Brown an equally ugly record against gun rights, the only thing left for pro-gun voters to do is decide whether casting a protest vote against Mike DeWine is worth the risk of turning over the U.S. Senate to the likes of Ted Kennedy and Chuck Schumer.

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