Mandel remains defiant

COLUMBUS

Josh Mandel seems like such a nice kid.

I say “kid,” not to demean, but because Mandel is apt to poke fun at his own youthful appearance and age, joking with an audience in suburban Columbus last week that he would soon be old enough to shave.

He’s personable. He knows how to connect with people on the campaign trail. He’ll pull you aside in the hallway, call you by your first name, talk to you like he’s your best friend.

He’s a military veteran who takes obvious pride in his days as a Marine. He’s found success in elected office, serving as a state representative and as the current state treasurer. He’s shown that he can raise funds and garner support from Republicans, Democrats and independents.

He says all of the right things about being tired of politics as usual in Ohio’s Statehouse and the nation’s capital.

“I am frustrated with both Republican and Democratic leaders in Washington,” he said. “And I think a lot of them have failed us, and in my mind the only way to change Washington is to change the people we send there.”

He has a pamphlet that he hands out to potential supporters outlining some of his plans for building the state and national economies and ensuring future job growth for Ohioans.

He even has a couple of nice things to say about his opponent in November, telling people that Democratic Sen. Sherrod Brown “loves his country.”

“He doesn’t seem like a bad guy,” Mandel said of Brown one day last week.

Morass of ugliness

Given all of that, it’s curious how Ohio’s U.S. Senate race has degenerated into a morass of ugliness, with daily emails from Democrats pointing out Mandel’s shortcomings and Mandel regularly drawing the ire of newspaper editorial boards for stuff he says and ads supporting his candidacy.

Cleveland’s Plain Dealer and PolitiFact have labeled a half a dozen or so of Mandel’s campaign claims as either “false” or with the bottom-of-the-Truth-O-Meter rank of “Pants on Fire.”

He sometimes unnecessarily dodges easy questions. There’s a growing perception among media types that Mandel is running a shady campaign. The word “sleazy” comes up in conversations.

For his part, Mandel’s response to such criticism is defiant.

“None of it has an impact with how we run our campaign,” he told me last week. “We’re going to continue telling the truth, and we’re going to continue projecting our positive message for restoring the economy in Ohio and bringing fiscal conservatism to Washington.”

He added, “I have a lot of respect for journalists throughout the state of Ohio, and there’s a lot of good men and women I’ve met who work in the industry and they’re just doing their job. At the same time, we’re not out here trying to earn the votes of journalists. We’re out here trying to earn the votes of citizens throughout the state.”

Marc Kovac is The Vindicator’s Statehouse correspondent. Email him at mkovac@dixcom.com or on Twitter at OhioCapitalBlog.