The Humiliating Ohio Senate Race
Bernie Moreno should have been a contender. Instead, he has dropped out of the race for Ohio’s Senate seat after spending millions of his own money and never reaching even fifth place in polls of the Republican primary. It’s a story with a lesson, a very sad lesson.
Moreno, age 54, declared last year for the seat now held by Ohio Republican Rob Portman. Portman’s seat had previously been held by former Cleveland Mayor George Voinovich, another Republican; before Voinovich, by the former astronaut John Glenn, a Democrat; before John Glenn, by the real-estate developer Howard Metzenbaum, also a Democrat.
Moreno was a candidate in the mold. Before joining the Republican primary, Moreno, like those previous Ohio senators, espoused fundamentally moderate politics. He backed John Kasich for governor in 2010 and 2014, then in 2016. Only at the last minute did Moreno realize he needed to jump aboard the train of Trump radicalism and nihilism. His catchup leap was spectacular, and spectacularly unsuccessful.
