Winning Ohio’s 2nd District is a massive challenge for a progressive candidate. This district is considered a conservative GOP lock. That’s why Bush chose it when he appointed Portman.

For a candidate to have a chance he has to abandon traditional safe political thinking and offer a gambit. A gambit is a move where you sacrifice immediate material in order to secure victory or a long term material gain. It’s risky play and very difficult to pull off. It is also the only hope for a player battling the GOP in Ohio’s 2nd.

In political terms a gambit in this district would be sacrificing support from what would be considered the most powerful forces in Ohio politics. That means taking the evangelical political factions head on. With any gambit play, you have to be a master of the finesse. Most gambits crash in horrible flames by people not up to the challenge. You CANNOT just simply parrot back the same ol talking points. You have to offer something simple and reasonable. Since media attention for any progressive candidate is going to be extremely hard to come by, gambit play offers you your best chance to draw the cameras.

For instance: What is your position on abortion?

I’m in favor of people and families being in control of the difficult medical decisions that every person has to make in their lives. If someone gets pregnant it’s none of my business. I would like for there to be fewer abortions but I know that I’m not going to make that happen by taking away a woman’s right to chose. The best way to prevent abortions is by there being good education and jobs for our young people. Every day we cheat our children out of a decent education we encourage there to be more abortions. Every time we lie to them about sexual education and the difficult world we live in we encourage there to be more abortions. As long as we continue to provide them with a bleak future filled with massive debt and low paying wages we insure that the abortionist’s coffers will be filled.

Howard Dean is a master of political gambit play. He’s modern political career is based upon a gambit he played before Democratic insiders when he told them to their faces that what they were doing was wrong. At first they hated him (many still do) and did everything in their power to crush him. He now runs the Party.

The key thing that anyone has to do is stop listening to the screaming heads. The pundits and political shills have a vested interest in keeping the lines drawn the way they are. Anyone who talks simple truth to power will be hammered VERY VERY hard. But the point is that when they hammer you and you stand up to it common people respect that. I don’t know how many conservatives that I talked to that told me that they respected Howard Dean. At least he speaks what’s on his mind.

(You can see him in action taking on the difficult issue of abortion on Meet the Press. Read Jack O’Toole for analysis.)

Play safe and you will lose. Play hard and you may lose, but at least you will lose with dignity.