State Rep. Christina Hagan (Republican - Marlboro) is doing a little political self-preservation these days.
She is busy sending out press releases to the likes of the Repository's Robert Wang who dutifully picks up on them to report on back-burner legislative matters Hagan is devoting herself to.
Wang is so consumed with the mostly inconsequential that he even reported on her recent engagement.
No hard nosed reporting on her support of legislation that is gutting the funding of local government and undermining the right of public employees (mostly police, firefighters and teachers) to collectively bargain and her "Queen Bee" status with the oil and gas interests and her failure to come to the legislative rescue of more local control of the fracking process.
The big hot button issue (House Bill 298, Senate Bill 201) coursing through the Ohio General Assembly now is one sponsored/co-sponsored only by Republicans.
This legislation is designed to make it next to impossible if not impossible for Planned Parenthood to get Ohio funding for its activities, to wit:
Notably missing as a co-sponsor of HB 298 is Christina Hagan.
Why would that be?
While undoubtedly Hagan (who presents herself politically as well right of center with the overlay of being a highly religious person) will be supporting the bill when it comes to and up or down vote, it appears she does not want to become front and center embroiled in a political controversy that could provide her Alliance-based Democratic opponent Sue Ryan with an opportunity to make her race against Hagan competitive.
Ryan's campaign so far as looked about as dead as a campaign can. Her campaign fiance report was absolutely pathetic in terms of money raised.
She does have a fundraiser scheduled for April 30th.
Kind of late, no?
It appears to the SCPR that it will take something along the order of a miracle to dispossess Hagan from the Ohio House.
And Hagan is doing her best to play The Repository for "earned?" media on various back-burner bills she has offered up and to avoid going high profile on anything that could possibly rescue the Ryan campaign from oblivion.
With recently deposed Republican presidential candidate Rick Santorum being the chief spokesman on what a number of media types have characterized as being "a war on women," it seems as if the public notice has bought into the press labeling and polls show that there is a very large gender gap with women as between Republicans and Democrats (focusing at the presidential level of politics).
The SCPR is highly skeptical that Sue Ryan can mount anywhere near an effective campaign against Hagan.
However, she can pray for a miracle that that unelected 50th District representative will somehow self-destruct on something like House Bill 298.
Apparently, Hagan is being minded and mentored by the likes of state Reps. David Hall and Ron Amstutz to ensure that no miracle happens.
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