Fired

Ohio GOP Chairman Bob Bennett has fired Gary Lankford, the staffer who recently sent an e-mail proclaiming that Democratic candidate Ted Strickland was gay. Bennett also sent Strickland a letter of apology.

Bennett had to fire the guy, if not for the bigotry of the attack, then because for $16,000 you deserve better opposition research than just saying he's gay. What are they hiring, ten-year olds? Seriously though, for half that money I could have at least come up with he's super gay, or really gay, or really super gay. The Ohio republican party really comes of looking pretty foolish from this episode.

Even worse for the republican party, the publishing of the e-mail furthers the public's notion that their gubernatorial candidate is far out of step with the rational wing of their party. Even my right wing Christian accountant says there is no way he'd ever vote for Blackwell, and will vote for Strickland, and I don't know if he has ever voted for a Democrat in his life.

One last thing, how does anybody believe they can get away with a secret e-mail list anymore? Pretty much every list has been compromised by opposition researchers and you should always be prepared for any content you send out to be made public record if it is damaging to you.