DISCUSSION: DID SCHURNG PICK THE WRONG TIME TO RUN FOR CONGRESSMAN?

He has been planning for this run for years. But he picked the wrong time to run.

The STARK COUNTY POLITICAL REPORT (The Report) has learned that a number of Stark County office holding Democrats like Kirk Schuring.

These are folks who openly attended Schuring's fundraisers in the past and very likely voted for him in contests such as Schuring v. West (29th District - Ohio Senate).

Running against war hero John Boccieri is another matter.

An example of a leading Stark County Democrat who attended at least one Schuring fundraiser over the years is Stark County sheriff Tim Swanson. And, it wasn't without consequences. Stark County Democratic chairman Johnnie A. Maier, Jr. took Swanson to the "woodshed" over the matter, but Swanson was unrepentant. He told the chairman that he had to work with Schuring in order to get support from Columbus and that is a political reality, pure and simple.

Swanson told The Report he will not be supporting Schuring in his 16 Congressional District run against Boccieri.

The Report has heard similar stories from other Stark County Democrat office holders.

Last night, The Report was surfing the political talk shows on TV and what was the advice to Republican candidates from the RNCC - "don't run as a Republican." Find an issue and run on it. Do not run as a Republican.

The Report believes Schuring is not following this advice. Readers will recall that Schuring got himself into hot water for - what some thought - was ragging on Canton as an unsafe place to be - period. The Report thinks the Schuring comment was a reference to the large number of Democrats in Canton as a mass of voters that would not be friendly to Schuring and his Stark County history of being a "high profile" Republican.

The only issue that apparently works for the Republican presidential candidate and Republican congressional aspirants is the "they (Republicans) keep us safer" (from terrorists argument).

A hard sell indeed for Schuring in his race. Schuring (with no military service in his bio) running against "on the front lines of war" Boccieri is going to use that issue. No way!

The question: Can Schuring defeat Boccieri? If yes, on what basis?