TALK IS CHEAP? SCHURING - ONCE AGAIN - PROVES TO BE A "COOKIE CUTTER" REPUBLICAN

Yours truly has spoken with state Senator Kirk Schuring quite a few times over the last few years.

One of the frequently uttered lines by Schuring over this space of time has been: "I know, Martin. You think I am a "cookie cutter Republican."

Now is the time to make a definite attribution. State Senator J. Kirk Schuring is a "cookie cutter Republican."

Schuring had the perfect opportunity yesterday and break ranks with the run-of-the-mill senate Republican (the leadership voted for the bill, giving it the margin it needed to pass) by voting for the next biennium Ohio budget bill or alternatively taking the lead in the Ohio Senate and offer a alternative to the Strickland/Ohio General Assembly compromise being voted upon.



The SCPR believes that this is one more reason to be added to the list of reasons that his candidacy for Congress against Democrat John Boccieri failed last year. Schuring loss was truly astounding. Particulary the margin he lost by in Stark County.

Apparently, the votes he got in Stark were from the Republican base with very few coming from Democrats and independents. The moral of the political story for Schuring is that - if the Democrats run a strong candidate - he loses countywide in Stark.

Accordingly, look for Schuring to run once again in the seat that Oelslager is vacating (the 51st) in their game of musical chairs (thereby defeating the spirit of Republican initiated term limits legislation) where the registration number favor Republicans.

The Stark County Republican Party is on life support. Even though many Democrat officeholders are trying to self-destruct (Healy, Swanson and Zeigler for sure); Republicans won't let them.

Under Jeff Matthews feeble leadership (aided by Republican operative Jason Wise), there are no strong Republican candidates in sight to take on Democrat Stark County auditor Kim Perez and Stark County commissioner Todd Bosley in 2010.

Schuring has suggested to the SCPR that one of the options that he was looking at for 2010 was running countywide.

Yours truly now believes that would be foolhardy. In view of his staggering loss to Boccieri (2008) and his hewing the Republican Party line, how can he win against strong Democrats such as Perez and Bosley in a Democratic leaning county?

If Schuring were to run against either and lose, he would be finished politically in Stark County, except in Republican dominated areas of the county.