Montgomery gets a reality check in AG race

A key reason Betty Montgomery drop-ped out of the gubernatorial race was because she needed to aggressively attack her opponents to have a shot at winning the Republican primary.
That is not the type of campaign Montgomery said she wants to run.
"The nature of a primary is you have to be swinging every day if you're in third place," Montgomery said. "I'm not prepared to do that."
Montgomery, the state's auditor since 2003, said polling showed her in third place in her party's primary, trailing Secretary of State J. Kenneth Blackwell, the front-runner, and Attorney General Jim Petro.
The Republican gubernatorial race was already getting a bit ugly with the three candidates taking shots at each other.
Blackwell's campaign is the most aggressive among the three and has escalated the negative rhetoric in recent weeks. The campaign openly mocked Petro when his then-lieutenant gubernatorial running mate quit the race saying the "wheels have fallen off the Petro campaign and has no chance of victory." When Montgomery quit the race Tuesday, Blackwell's campaign said Petro should follow her.
So Montgomery gets out of that race to run for attorney general, a position she held for eight years before her current stint at state auditor.
If Montgomery thought running for AG would mean an end to aggressive campaign attacks she quickly learned she was incorrect.
On Tuesday, the day Montgomery announced her political decision, three of the four declared candidates for attorney general -- including a fellow Republican -- verbally assaulted her.
State Sen. Timothy Grendell of Chesterland, R-18th and a Republican AG candidate, blasted Montgomery calling her a "career politician [who] needs a job."
Grendell, one of the most conservative Republicans in the state Legislature, said, "Betty Montgomery's personal employment needs have outweighed the needs of the people of Ohio. Attorney general shouldn't be a consolation prize for a candidate who can't win the gubernatorial race."
When told of Grendell's comments, Montgomery said she was "somewhat surprised" by them. She also said the AG isn't a consolation prize. It's a job she loved, but had to give up because of the state's term limits law.
I'm somewhat surprised Montgomery didn't see this coming. Grendell is an aggressive, out-spoken politician who's not afraid to criticize fellow Republicans.
As for Franklin County Prosecutor Ron O'Brien, the other announced Republican AG candidate, he appears too stunned by Montgomery's announcement to say much of anything.
O'Brien is staying in the race, but is disappointed that Montgomery changed her mind about running for attorney general.
The two declared Democratic candidates for AG -- state Sen. Marc Dann of Liberty, D-32nd, and Subodh Chandra, a former Cleveland law director and ex-assistant U.S. prosecutor -- took shots at Montgomery.
The two said Montgomery sat idle for years while her fellow Republicans and their cronies used the state treasury as their private bank account.
Dann is one of the most outspoken critics of the involvement of Republicans in the state scandals and says there is a "pay-to-play climate" in Columbus.
With no AG opponent tied to any of those problems, Dann could campaign on the scandals. But until Montgomery got in to the race, he couldn't point to any of the other candidates in the race when making his points.
Dann said he is thrilled that Montgomery is an AG candidate because now he has someone at which to point.
Montgomery "watched the store while her friends looted the store," Dann said.
"She's part of the pay-to-play mentality," he added.
Chandra also welcomed Montgomery to the race in a similar way.
"Betty Montgomery again asking to be Ohio's attorney general is like the lookout at a bank robbery applying for the job of security guard," he said. "For the sake of her political career, Montgomery looked the other way while her friends looted state government and sold out her clients, the people of Ohio."
If Montgomery thought getting out of the gubernatorial race would put an end to the attack campaigning, she was mistaken. The only difference is she had to be the aggressor in the gubernatorial race targeting Blackwell and now she is the presumed front-runner in the AG race with a big target on her back.
Welcome to the AG race, Betty!