Tom Brinkman is featured today in an article in the Beltway insider publication The Hill. Some highlights:

Calling Rep. Jean Schmidt (R-Ohio) “Mean Jean” and a “pathological liar,” a Republican former rival said yesterday she would almost certainly face a serious primary challenge next year.

“I don’t know who it will be,” state Rep. Tom Brinkman said in an interview with The Hill. “It could be me. It could be Bob McEwen. I think it’s important that she have one challenger to beat her. You don’t want two or three or four because it splits up the vote. I think she’s in serious political trouble.”


Good thinking there…

Brinkman said the GOP House primary returns from this past summer would likely determine Schmidt’s challenger in the May 2 primary. The filing deadline is Feb. 16.

“There’s a pecking order. I didn’t come in second,” Brinkman said. Referring to McEwen, he added: “I’ll have to defer to the guy who came in second.”


Very interesting…

Brinkman said McEwen has been all but officially campaigning for the seat, in the state’s 2nd District, stretching from the Cincinnati suburbs to the rural areas east of the city.

That effort includes, Brinkman said, shoring up McEwen’s support among elected officials and pastors who backed him last time.

Bennett, Schmidt’s chief of staff, said McEwen had signaled he might run for senator, governor or secretary of state. He added that McEwen no longer lives in the district.


Really… is that true? Did he sell his home here?


And finally on Hackett:

A Democratic source in Washington said Democratic officials want Hackett to run for the House seat again. Other possible Democratic contenders include David Pepper, a former Cincinnati mayoral candidate. Adrienne Elrod, a spokeswoman for the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, said Schmidt’s comments on the House floor had embarrassed the congresswoman and distracted the Congress from the debate over the Iraq war.

Turning to the Senate race, Brinkman said DeWine, too, could face an insurmountable challenge. “I think either of them would beat him,” Brinkman said of Hackett and Brown. He added that the senator’s opposition to some gun rights had hurt him, giving Hackett, a strong backer of Second Amendment rights, a better shot in the general election.


UPDATE: Project Logic also reports that a group calling itself American Viewpoint is conducting pro-McEwen push polls. Project Logic has details on the content for the calls.

Sports fans… it appears that we have ourselves a horserace.

UPDATE 2: On an interesting aside, key Bob McEwen backer Dr. James Dobson is the target of an IRS complaint over his political activities. Could the actions of these left wingers help Jean Schmidt?

UPDATE 3: I just now noticed… look who’s on the upper right hand corner of the print version ;-)