Name: Punxsutawny Josh Mandel pops up in quest of a Senate seat, sadly unchanged: Brent Larkin
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Punxsutawny Josh Mandel pops up in quest of a Senate seat, sadly unchanged: Brent Larkin

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NEW!4,665sharesCLEVELAND -- Three years after burrowing down deep, Punxsutawney Josh crawled from his hole, , and set about doing what he does best.What former State Treasurer Josh Mandel does best is embrace hate groups and display the type of crass political opportunism and intellectual dishonesty that would make Marjorie Taylor Greene proud.Given that baggage, a cynic might argue that Ohio Democrats should do everything they can to make Mandel the Republican Party nominee next year.Ohio Republicans, in turn, would be foolish to nominate him. Unfortunately, that’s no guarantee they won’t.Prior to his recent reappearance and the Feb. 10 announcement that he will run for U.S. Sen. Rob Portman’s seat, Mandel had been absent from politics since January 2018, when he to defeat Democratic Sen. Sherrod Brown, citing an undisclosed illness suffered by his wife.Here are a few details of what Mandel has and hasn’t done since:* He divorced his wife and convinced a judge in Ashland County, where neither of them lived, . Normally, that wouldn’t be worth noting, except that in his losing campaign to Brown in 2012 and again in the early stages of his 2018 campaign, Mandel made an issue of the incumbent senator’s messy divorce in 1986. At Mandel’s request, his divorce file was hidden from voters. Brown’s is a public record.* He , apparently hoping that all that history of extremism would vanish. Like , identified by the Anti-Defamation League for their ties to white nationalists, or the Mandel is a practicing Jew who has accused the ADL of being “a partisan witchhunt group.”* He sat for three years on what is now his for federal office, making no meaningful contributions to Republican candidates running in Ohio or elsewhere.No wonder that, during his eight years as state treasurer, many of Mandel’s fellow Republicans in Columbus grew to despise him. After he to run television ads promoting himself, the Republican-run legislature passed a law preventing future officeholders from slithering through the same loophole.Not surprisingly, Mandel chose with Brietbart News to declare himself a “Trump warrior” and criticize “these Harvard elite country club Republicans.” The elitist tag was meant for Harvard-educated Jane Timken, who .Timken will also run as a wholly owned subsidiary of the former president. Both she and Mandel will attempt to gloss over former President Donald Trump’s crimes against America that cost five people their lives in the assault on the Capitol. They will ignore the big election fraud lie, the most damaging and vile falsehood ever to tumble from a president’s mouth. And both will shed any sense of dignity and self-respect, running campaigns so far right they’ll make Portman seem like Bernie Sanders. It may work, as the GOP constituency in Ohio is little or no different than in Mississippi, Alabama or Arkansas.Nevertheless, fairness requires noting Mandel is considerably less qualified than Timken. During an last week with 3News, Mandel predicted evidence will eventually prove the presidential election was stolen from Trump. With that, Mandel secured his position as the most unfit viable candidate ever to seek a U.S. Senate seat in Ohio.Because others are still exploring a possible run for the Republican nomination, it’s premature to declare a front-runner. But it’s fair to wonder if Mandel is past his “sell by” date with Ohio’s GOP voters. Prior to his announcement, some GOP insiders thought Mandel might instead challenge U.S. Rep. Anthony Gonzalez, the first-term GOP lawmaker from Rocky River.In that same Breitbart interview, Mandel said there should be no place in Congress for Republicans like Gonzalez and U.S. Rep. Liz Cheney of Wyoming, who both voted to impeach Trump for inciting the deadly Jan. 6 invasion of the U.S. Capitol by his supporters. Today’s Republican Party doesn’t like people with a conscience, so that may limit Gonzalez’s future. But Gonzalez’s district is more educated than most, which would serve him well against a conscience-free bottom feeder like Mandel.Mandel, now 43, got his start in politics when he was elected to City Council 18 years ago in my hometown of Lyndhurst. In 2017, former Lyndhurst Mayor Joe Cicero how, even in those early years, Mandel proved to be “a wolf in sheep’s clothing” and “one of the worst things that happened to Lyndhurst.” Mandel, the popular former mayor added, “is inadequate as a human being.”Any hope Mandel would emerge from exile a changed man has already vanished.Brent Larkin was The Plain Dealer’s editorial director from 1991 until his retirement in 2009.To reach Brent Larkin: Have something to say about this topic?* which will be considered for print publication.* Email general questions, comments or corrections on this opinion column to Elizabeth Sullivan, director of opinion, at .Note to readers: if you purchase something through one of our affiliate links we may earn a commission.

NEW!4,665sharesCLEVELAND -- Three years after burrowing down deep, Punxsutawney Josh crawled from his hole, , and set about doing what he does best.What former State Treasurer Josh Mandel does best is embrace hate groups and display the type of crass political opportunism and intellectual dishonesty that would make Marjorie Taylor Greene proud.Given that baggage, a cynic might argue that Ohio Democrats should do everything they can to make Mandel the Republican Party nominee next year.Ohio Republicans, in turn, would be foolish to nominate him. Unfortunately, that’s no guarantee they...

Punxsutawny Josh Mandel pops up in quest of a Senate seat, sadly unchanged: Brent Larkin

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