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Columbus Mayor Coleman Calls Out The Empty Suit

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Mayor Michael Coleman of Columbus wasn’t too happy with Josh “The Empty Suit” Mandel’s despicable performance in the second U.S. Senate debate in Columbus yesterday. He said he “stewed” about it all day before calling Columbus Dispatch reporter Joe Hallett to unload.

http://dispatchpolitics.dispatch.com/content/blogs/the-daily-briefing/20…

He told the Dispatch,

“I was appalled. It’s like Josh Mandel will say anything and do anything to get ahead and to offend and his decorum was embarrassing. He’s clearly not ready for prime time.”

Well, yes, it is IS like Josh Mandel will say or do anything to get ahead. We learned that back when he said that treasurer Kevin Boyce hired his staff “at the mosque.” That was pretty offensive.

As Hallett reminds us,

Mandel was widely criticized for running a TV ad featuring images interpreted as portraying Boyce, who is black and a devout Christian, as a radical Muslim.

I can understand why Coleman got hot under the collar. It’s protocol in debates to suggest your opponent is not being truthful, but never to call him a liar. The sleazy and unethical Mandel called Sherrod Brown a “liar” for telling the truth about his neglect of his job as state treasurer and his acting as a lackey for his campaign contributors. That truth is hard on Mandel. But it is who he is.

And here’s Mandel spokesperson Travis Considine’s laughable defense of Mandel:

In the debate, when Brown accused Mandel of neglecting the treasurer’s office, Mandel “set the record straight” by calling Brown a liar, Considine said.

That isn’t “setting the record straight.” That’s more typical Mandel obfuscation. “Setting the record straight” would be coming up with credible explanations for why he missed 14 straight board of deposit meetings before he was essentially shamed into going to a couple. It would mean explaining why he ditched his office on work days repeatedly to attend fundraisers for his Senate campaign, while taxpayers were paying his salary. t would mean coming up with a believable explanation for why he started his Senate run about a month after being sworn in as treasurer — after promising to serve as treasurer for four years. But Joshie has no explanations.

Just saying your opponent is a “liar” without rebutting his statements with facts is a kindergarten-level argument — “nyah nyah you’re mean and ugly.”

And that is the level Joshie is operating on.

The Dispatch says,

The mayor said he has had a respectful and productive working relationship with a number of Republicans, including former Sens. George Voinovich and Mike DeWine, now the Ohio attorney general, current U.S. Sen. Rob Portman, and U.S. Reps. Pat Tiberi and Steve Stivers. “In campaigns, things get heated, but not anything like this.”

No — nothing like this. Mandel continues to plumb new lows in Ohio politics. Some of those Republicans are not exactly examples of stellar lawmakers. But not one of them is as ethically challenged, as nasty, as arrogant, or as thoroughly unqualified to be holding office as Mandel.