Why should Dallasites care about the 2006 Governor’s race in Ohio?

Ken BlackwellAt first glance, maybe we shouldn’t. Ohio, after all, is practically half-way across the country. Issues that concern Ohioans often seem to have less relevance in the Lone Star State. For instance, Ohio is losing about 250 residents a day to Florida. Texas is not. Nor are Texans concerned with arguments over a flat state income tax rate, as Ohioans are. To the contrary, Texas doesn’t have a state income tax at all. The economic woes of auto manufacturers may be headline news in Ohio, but they don’t warrant too much discussion in Texas. And that’s just for starters.

Why, then, should we care about Ohio’s gubernatorial election? The outcome won’t impact the daily lives of Texans. Not one little bit.

The answer became glaringly apparent to me last weekend when I was fortunate enough to hear one of the Republican Ohioan candidates speak. I walked away knowing that Ohio’s gubernatorial race could have important ramifications for both political parties, at the national level. The race is well worth keeping an eye on, as it could be a harbinger of things to come.

The Republican gubernatorial primary in Ohio features a contest between Ken Blackwell, the state’s current Secretary of State, and Jim Petro, the outgoing Attorney General. The primary is not until May, but Blackwell appears to be the early favorite among Republicans. After hearing him speak, I understood why.

Here’s the amazing part: Blackwell is not only a staunch conservative, but he also happens to be a black American who earned the votes of 50 percent of the black community during his last election.

In person, Blackwell is genuine, personable, and charismatic. He speaks intelligently, yet in a down-to-earth manner that plays well with a variety of audiences. He is one of the few Republicans in recent memory to earn not only the trust, but also the votes, of the black community. If Blackwell wins the gubernatorial race in Ohio this year, he will be a player on the national stage. And he will have earned it. Republicans will need him if they are to have any hope of reaching across partisan lines and winning new black voters.

Blackwell has accomplished a feat that many thought impossible. How has he earned the confidence of such a staunchly Democratic community?

Blackwell has approached the black community the good, old-fashioned way. He takes his message straight to the people. He talks to them, heart-to-heart. He doesn’t try to sell the black community on the Republican Party, per se. Instead, he spends time talking about values, knowing that the black community often has very traditional, faith-based beliefs about the family. Blackwell seems to realize that if he speaks about values, rather than party, then the black community will evaluate him as an individual candidate, rather than just another Republican voice. Perhaps his approach helps black voters to cast aside their instinctive mistrust of Republicans, leaving them free to realize that the Republican platform reflects their traditional family values to a greater degree than the Democratic one.

In 2004, Blackwell helped to deliver 16 percent of Ohio’s black vote to George W. Bush. Nationwide, Bush won a much smaller 11 percent of black votes. In 2000, he won only 9 percent of black voters.

If Blackwell succeeds in Ohio this year, we can predict that he will serve as a similar force in 2008. The next presidential election may be too soon for Blackwell to stage his own presidential run, but he will certainly have a significant impact as he stumps for whoever is the Republican candidate. If he brings significant numbers of black voters to the Republican side, then he could have a devastating effect on Democratic presidential hopes.

Or who knows? Maybe the new Republican presidential candidate will take matters a step further and tap Blackwell as his running mate. Now that would be an interesting race to watch.

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