OPINION: How the Ohio Republican Party Became a Party Without a Future

BY TOM HACH

From your high school days, you may recall learning about Tammany Hall,
which was one of greatest, if not most notorious, political machines in
American history.  In case a refresher is helpful, Tammany Hall was a
political machine in New York City starting in the late 1700’s and it
held sway into the 1960’s. It became a Democrat Party powerhouse
starting in the 1850’s, and maintained its power by doling out coveted
patronage positions, which kept the right people wealthy and everyone
else in line.

A political entity, like Tammany Hall, doesn’t remain effective for
almost 200 years by being stupid.  It knew it needed the support of its
political base, and that getting beyond what the the base wanted was bad
for both elections and for business.   Additionally an adage I have
heard regarding Tammany Hall, was ‘They were smart enough not to steal
all the money.’  One can say in conclusion, Tammany Hall was an 
extremely corrupt, but intelligently led  political machine.

You maybe wondering what Tammany Hall, a now defunct political machine
from another time and place, has to do with Ohio politics? Good
question, but, first, let me make sure we’re all on the same page
regarding Ohio.

Last November, Ohioans went to the polls and elected a super majority of
67 Republicans to the Ohio House of Representatives, which is a rare
feat in any age.  However, rather than respecting the will of the
voters, the Ohio Republican Establishment colluded with Ohio Democrats
behind the backs of their own base, and elected Republican Rep. Jason
Stephans Speaker of the House with all 34 votes of the Democrat caucus,
while he only received 22 of 67 Republican votes.

Yes, that’s right!  A Republican Speaker won with more Democrat votes
than Republican.  Put more succinctly, the Ohio Republican Establishment
showed they would rather work with Democrats, than with their fellow
Republicans when it comes to governing Ohio.  It also shows the Ohio
Republican Establishment does not fear any effective blow-back from its
base.

Corruption on this scale puts the Ohio Republican Party Establishment in
the same league as Tammany Hall except they can’t get over being
stupid.  They would rather deceive their base during elections, and then
the look them in the eye and politically stab them in the chest once
they are in office.   This cannot be a good long-term strategy.

So who are the smart pols in Ohio?  Just like with Tammany Hall, it is
the Democrats, especially Democrat Ohio House Minority Leader Allison
Russo.  She is House Minority Leader in name only, for she is the
puppeteer pulling Speaker Stephans’ strings and ensuring he maintains
his betrayal of the Republican base by making sure nothing too
‘Republican’ gets passed during the next two years.  With this, the Ohio
Republican Party Establishment can best be thought of as being a willing
appendage of the Ohio Democrat Party.

Ultimately today, the Ohio Republican Party has a Establishment without
a base, and a base without an Establishment, and this is why the Ohio
Republican Party is a party without a future.