Gubernatorial candidate Ken Blackwell has now compared gays to arsonists:

Ohio’s largest LGBT civil rights organization is demanding an apology from GOP gubernatorial candidate Ken Blackwell after he compared gays to criminals in a newspaper interview.

Asked by the Columbus Dispatch if homosexuality is a sin and if it can be cured Blackwell said: “I think homosexuality is a lifestyle, it’s a choice, and that lifestyle can be changed. I think it’s a transgression against God’s law, God’s will. The reality is again … that we make choices all the time. And, I think you make good choices and bad choices in terms of lifestyle. Our expectation is that one’s genetic makeup might make one more inclined to be an arsonist, or may make one more inclined to be a kleptomaniac. Do I think that can be changed? Yes.”

Not surprisingly Blackwell, who currently is Ohio’s Secretary of State, also opposes same-sex marriage. But while his Democratic opponent, Ted Strickland also opposes gay marriage, Strickland told the paper that he differs with Blackwell on ‘nurture vs nature’

“I think the scientific literature indicates that it is likely that homosexuality is in fact something that is not learned, but I wouldn’t want to say that that’s the situation in all cases,” Strickland told the Dispatch.

Make no mistake about it, Blackwell is about as psycho as Pat Robinson. He is a person that will do what he can to make religion an essential part of government. He is the same person that told a church being questioned for “political involvement” to ignore the law.

DeWine/Brown Senate Race

Even after it was exposed last week that Mike DeWine was using doctored footage of the WTC attacks, the Ohio GOP still keeps with doing their dirty tricks:

The Ohio Republican Party’s newly hired “social conservative coordinator” e-mailed an undisclosed group of “pro-family friends” this week, offering a 10-point introduction to Democratic gubernatorial candidate Ted Strickland.

His message attacked the church attendance, work ethic, and voting record of Mr. Strickland, a southeast Ohio congressman and ordained Methodist minister. It alleged Mr. Strickland and his wife of nearly 20 years live in different states – and linked to an Internet posting that questions whether Mr. Strickland is gay.

The e-mail’s author, a Christian home school headmaster named Gary Lankford, signed the note with his Ohio Republican Party title below his name. “Pass this information along,” he concluded.

Mr. Strickland called the e-mail’s charges “preposterous” and “not factual” when informed of them this week, after The Blade obtained a copy. Ohio GOP officials condemned the message and said they disciplined Mr. Lankford but did not fire him.

The e-mail surfaced shortly after the campaign of U.S. Sen. Mike DeWine (R., Cedarville) launched a television ad – produced by the agency behind the “Swift Boat” campaign against 2004 presidential candidate John Kerry – that flashed terrorist mug shots and a smoking World Trade Center to underscore criticism of Mr. DeWine’s Democratic opponent’s record on national security.

Some Democrats see a pattern, in style and in substance.

This entire article by the Toledo Blade is very interesting and highlights the differences in campaign tactics between the Republicans and Democrats.