In a bizarre way, everything about Candice Keller comes across as presented by Ganga Tarot in the below video—victimized, always on the outside looking in, and that conspiracy is the only answer to the future. It’s not that what Keller says about things is the problem. Everyone understands how freedom of speech these days is used to control thought and belief, so I’d be the last to say she shouldn’t have said this, or she shouldn’t have said that, and perhaps about many things she is right. But there is a difference between being a one trick pony and someone like Trump who can say similar things and escape the scrutiny of judgment untouched by scandal, and that difference follows Candice around like a ball and chain. She hopes that in the end she can use her woman status to separate herself from her rivals for the Senate in Ohio’s 4th seat, but at a time just ahead of the primary vote in March, her party has rebuked her at every level. And her response has been to resort to something more akin to the #metoo movement where her only way forward is to present herself as an undercard with a victimized status of womanhood.
The Republican Party has gathered behind the trusted leadership of George Lang for that very important seat. Looking at the Trump election for reference, the fighting among the party was vicious right up to the convention so its not uncommon for people who should be working together within the party to still be fighting this close to an important election as this primary in March. But Candice should see how the stars are lining up and be thinking of the day after instead of just trying to get a few votes by appealing to voter’s own sense of victimization. There is nothing more pathetic than such a one trick pony throwing rocks with nothing else to contribute who fails to understand that the nature of the game is to get the Party behind you, not asking you to resign. Trump’s campaign which Candice is trying to appeal to, understood that he had to unite the party by the convention, and in relation to her campaign that deadline has already passed. As a senator Candice would be completely ineffective when all she’s known for is a rock thrower screaming victimization. That makes her good points in standing for Second Amendment rights, and on abortion worthless because she has shown that she has no other means to bring people behind her legislation than to retreat behind victimization status.
I’ll be the last to say that punching back and hitting hard is beneath the needs of Party politics. However, there need to be other weapons in the holster, such as charm, team building experience, and the ability to rally people behind your cause. You have to understand the name of the game, and in politics, the reason there is a two party system, like it or not, is to force representatives to work with people of many different beliefs and get them to back an idea you propose. It doesn’t mean you have to compromise on everything, but you do have to have the skill to bend people to your will through many other methods besides just insulting them. There is a time and a place for fighting, but you have to know better when and where those times are, and just a few weeks ahead of the primary with Republicans refusing to get behind her in an established way, she is doing more damage to herself and the future she could be a part of by digging a deeper hole. My friendly advice to her would be to not resign, but to step aside quietly in this senate race and get behind George. Then live to fight another day because I see a lot of use for her contributions. But not right now after some of the devastating public relations she has had. If she continues to attack the GOP as unfair, how can she ever rally them behind her in the future, or on some new bill she proposes in the House? She must think of the long game, not the immediate need she has to save some face amidst controversy.
I make no mistake about it, that I’m for George Lang, and I am for many, many reasons. Mostly that I know him very well and for a long time, and I know he has all the skills I just mentioned. He has the needed political range and he can do well in the world by keeping things mostly above the line, and positive, which is a key for the position of senate. But more than that, even under intense pressure he has never found himself in a situation that Candace has. He’s been a frontrunner for most of his political career so its not a matter of playing it safe and not saying the wrong things at the wrong times, its just political skill. You must be savvy enough to raise money, be true to your base, and find ways to get people to work with you and not lose your soul along the way. George has done all that and more and he has had Party support. My worry is that Candice has things to offer the Republican Party and I don’t want to see her ruined after this primary election. I’d like to see her live another day and to develop her abilities beyond the one trick pony status.
It’s not enough to be a Trump supporter in Ohio and to appeal to the base. There are few politicians in Ohio, especially someone like George Lang who is considered to be a mainstream politician who is more for Trump. I remember when the entire Republican Party was supporting John Kasich and thought of Trump as a joke. George was with Trump from the very early moments. When Trump came to the Savannah Center in West Chester in the spring of 2016, well ahead of the Republican Convention in Cleveland, it was not yet popular to support Trump but George Lang was sitting right next to me in the VIP section and next to him was Margaret Conditt of the then 52nd district House seat. Sheriff Jones was there too, but not many others. Many of the VIP seats were empty and we let some lucky people come up out of the line to get a prime seat in that tight venue. I didn’t see Candice there, maybe she was in line somewhere, but the point is George has been with Trump from the beginning, and to have such a supporter in the Senate would be a great thing for Trump in Ohio and his supporters which Lang is an unquestionable advocate of the White House’s policies.
Personally, I’d like to see Candice get back into the good graces of the Republican Party as a contributor that people aren’t running from. The party could use her help, and she could use some advice in developing more tricks than just attaching herself to the Trump agenda. She needs to do more than throw rocks. She needs to do all that and a whole lot more. She needs to build bridges and get endorsements because that is attached directly to fundraising, and nobody wants a senator in the Ohio statehouse that is just a radical nobody will line up to hear speak. We had an event in West Chester and people did line up to see George Lang, a lot of people, and again, Candice wasn’t there, and she should have been. Even the liberal Lee Wong was there, although I think he thought it was the back door to Sushi Monk and was hoping for a free meal. Candice can’t hope to win an important seat in Ohio without having the Party with her, especially this close to the election. It’s the day after the primary that I’m worried about for Candice. Her place in the Republican Party needs to be much healthier not just for the benefit of all Republicans in Ohio, but for the people who need her to make good votes, put forth good bills that the governor can sign because Party unity is behind the effort, and people are willing to donate to the expensive act of campaign management. I want a future for Candice Keller, not a bottomless pit. But ultimately, its up to her to listen.
Rich Hoffman
The Gunfighter's Guide: 