The Washington Post has published a great article about Bush’s trip to the Buckeye state today in support of Blackwell:

President Bush, whose own popularity is just so-so, put the weight of his office behind the struggling candidacy of conservative Kenneth Blackwell, helping raise $1.5 million Wednesday for the Republican’s campaign for governor.

Bush won Ohio in 2004, but Republicans are facing a difficult political environment in this GOP-controlled state, which is trying to rebound from political scandal _ and recent flooding.

Last week, 10 inches of rain fell on northeastern Ohio, killing a man and forcing hundreds from their homes. On Tuesday, Bush declared Lake, Geauga and Ashtabula counties eligible for federal disaster relief.

“The local response was really good,” Bush said at Lake County Emergency Operation and Communication Center in Mentor where he stopped before going to the fundraiser. “The interoperability between various jurisdictions was superb. As a result, a lot of lives were saved.”

Bush, who spoke with dispatchers, law enforcement officers, firefighters and other emergency management officials, said the federal disaster declaration means individuals will be helped with rental assistance, temporary housing, grants to rebuild their homes and small business assistance. “It is now time to help people rebuild their lives,” Bush said before taking a five-minute motorcade ride to the fundraiser, which was closed to reporters.

It is very interesting how Bush declared the federal disaster the day before he heads to that very area to campaign for Blackwell. Something seems really fishy there.

The article goes on to point out that the state’s governor race is under that national spotlight, especially with Blackwell’s previously questionable ethics:

Last month, Democratic Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton, a potential 2008 presidential candidate, took a swipe at the Ohio secretary of state for his handling of the last presidential election.

Without mentioning his name, Clinton suggested that Blackwell had a conflict of interest in overseeing Ohio’s next election because he is running for governor.

In 2004, Blackwell was the honorary co-chairman of the Bush-Cheney campaign in Ohio and secretary of state. Long lines and confusion marked the election in Ohio, the state that put Bush over the top in the Electoral College vote.

Bush is below the average approval rating in Ohio. Currently SUSA has Bush at 37%, but only 33% here in Ohio. As matter of fact, this state rates #39 for approval ratings, with Rhode Island, the lowest approval state only 10 points behind. In other words – Ohio does not like Bush and the Republicans have burned their bridges pretty damn good here.

Meanwhile, The Hill is reporting that the DCCC is preparing to spend $51.5 million in ad’s, and Ohio is one of the target areas:

The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee (DCCC) has reserved $51.5 million of television advertising in 32 congressional districts.

The allocation reveals an aggressive posture toward the midterm elections, with 27 Republican-held districts targeted and only five Democratic districts identified as needing the defense of DCCC cash.

By reserving the ad space early, the DCCC has tipped its hand as the August recess begins; the National Republican Congressional Committee (NRCC) is circulating the list of targets.

The $51.5 million total exceeds previously reported figures by $20 million and confirms that Democrats will be on offense for much of the fall in states such as Connecticut, Indiana, Pennsylvania and Ohio as Republicans circle the wagons to protect their majority in the House.

Even the DCCC has realized the importance of Ohio this year.

Meanwhile, the talk about Blackwell’s decision not to disclose his financial records to voters is gaining more traction and people are not happy about it:

Democratic gubernatorial nominee Ted Strickland released his income-tax returns yesterday for the past five years, but his Republican opponent declined to make his public.

Secretary of State J. Kenneth Blackwell became the first gubernatorial nominee from either party since at least 1982 to refuse to disclose his income-tax returns.

“We’re not making those available,” said Blackwell campaign spokesman Carlo LoParo. “He files his financialdisclosure form as required by law. His salary is a matter of public record.”

And OHIO2006 is reporting this good bit of news in support of Ohio voters and their rights.

This morning I went to a press conference on the steps of the new Carl Stokes Federal Courthouse in Cleveland, where attorney general candidate State Sen. Marc Dann (D-Youngstown), accompanied by Senate Minority Leader C.J. Prentiss (D-Cleveland Heights), announced the filing of an amicus (“friend of the court”) brief in support of a federal lawsuit filed on July 6 by Project Vote and four other organizations against Secretary of State and gubernatorial candidate Ken Blackwell (R-Cincinnati), challenging the constitutionality of both the recent elections legislation known as H.B. 3 and Blackwell’s administrative rulings interpreting the law and imposing criminal penalties. These provisions have imposed severe restrictions on voter registration drives by organizations (in particular, requiring that persons who collect voter registration signatures must submit the forms directly to Board of Elections officials in person, and within a stated time limit, or face felony charges), with the effect of suppressing the vote of persons likely to support Democrats. The amicus brief was prepared and signed by Dann as counsel for 31 members of the Ohio General Assembly, who together represent more than four million Ohioans. The case is pending before U.S. District Judge Kathleen M. O’Malley, and preliminary injunctive relief against enforcement of H.B. 3 and Blackwell’s implementing rules has been requested. A ruling on that request could come within days.

You can read the rest of this great report here.