Carr's latest stumble is one for the books

State Sen. Charlie Wilson isn't the only Democratic candidate in the 6th Congressional District unsure about its boundaries.
But at least Wilson knows the sprawling 350-mile congressional district doesn't take in an eastern European country.
Bob Carr of Wellsville, running in the Democratic 6th District primary, mailed a news release last week about the closure of the Goodyear Tire & amp; Rubber Co.'s bicycle tire plant in Poland, Ohio, and the devastating impact on the local economy.
Had Carr spent five minutes checking his information, he would have realized the Poland in question isn't in Mahoning County, it's the country.
About a week after the Poland error, Carr apparently spent those five minutes because he sent another release stating: "I may of sent you a uncorrected [sic] news release -- Oops!"
If Wilson of St. Clairsville had 50 valid signatures on his nominating petitions, Carr would be nothing more than yet another odd candidate in the 6th District race, and believe me, there are plenty of them.
Wilson's campaign collected 96 signatures to get his name on the Democratic ballot. The problem was 43 of the signatures were from Democrats who don't live in the congressional district, and seven others were invalid for various reasons. Congressional candidates need 50 valid signatures to get their names on the ballot.
Instead of a cakewalk primary, Wilson is running an expensive write-in campaign for the Democratic nomination. The National Republican Congressional Committee is spending a few hundred thousand dollars in television advertisements attempting to discredit Wilson.
Carr and John Stephen Luchansky of Boardman are the only names those voting in the 6th District Democratic primary will see. If Wilson wins, he'll be only the fifth person to win a congressional primary as a write-in candidate in the nation's history.
Luchansky ran as a write-in candidate for this seat in 2004, and received less than 150 votes. He'll do better this time around, but he sure isn't doing anything to help his cause.
You would think someone without a job would have so much time on his hands that he'd be out campaigning nonstop. But Luchansky is doing next to nothing to get himself elected.
As for Carr, he is campaigning and getting a well-deserved reputation for his rambling speeches sprinkled with colorful tales of his life and omissions about his political past.
When Carr first decided to run for the seat in January, he told Columbiana County Democratic leaders that he had won a federal election in the past in Michigan and left them with the strong impression he was a somewhat well-known former congressman from that state with the same name. It took me nearly 30 minutes during my initial conversation with Carr to get him to admit he wasn't the more well-known Bob Carr. He also said he never tried to deceive anyone, but he never did anything to clear up people's misconception.
Carr won the 1996 Republican primary for a Michigan congressional seat and lost to the Democrat in the general election. By any standard, winning a congressional primary is not winning a federal election.
But it gets better. Carr also ran in the Republican primary for that seat in 1994 and 1998, something he didn't disclose until I confronted him with that information. On the candidate form given by this newspaper there is a question asking about public offices unsuccessfully sought and the dates. Carr only listed the 1996 race.
Also, Carr isn't a registered Democrat. Carr only registered to vote three months ago in Columbiana County. In Ohio, you have to vote in a party primary to be considered a member of that party.
Carr said he became disenchanted with the Republican Party during his 1998 race. The feeling was apparently mutual because he received only 29 percent of the vote in that primary.
The NRCC is running TV commercials painting Carr, who's run three times as a Republican, as a liberal. By doing so, the NRCC hopes Democrats will vote for Carr instead of Wilson. That's because Wilson poses a much more serious threat to state Rep. Chuck Blasdel of East Liverpool, their preferred GOP candidate, in the November general election.
The Republican commercial gives Carr name recognition he would otherwise not receive and perhaps helps chip away at Wilson's vote.